Categories for Raiders

Percy Harvin

The NFL Double Standard

August 1, 2013 Adam Thomas

Can you imagine if a team like the Jets had traded a first and seventh round pick in this year’s draft and a third round pick in next year’s draft for a wide receiver, and then gave that player a 5 year contract worth 25.5 million dollars in guaranteed money AND THEN it turned out that player had to have hip surgery and was out for–possibly–the entire season?

BEDLAM!

But instead, we get….crickets. From CBSSports “Obviously, this is bad news for the Seahawks.” Obviously.

From ESPN “The loss of Harvin is significant, but not a huge setback for a team that relies on the legs of Marshawn Lynch and timely passing of Russell Wilson to drive its offense.” OK…so if it’s not a setback then why did they trade a 1, 3, and 7 for him, and give him a huge contract?

Harvin, at best, will miss 12 to 16 weeks. This is a guy who couldn’t get on the field because of migraines. You think he is going to jump back immediately when he is cleared from hip surgery?  Doubtful.

So let’s call this trade what it is: Bad.

Seattle: You got fleeced.

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Charles Woodson returns to the Raiders

Woodson returns to the Raiders: Gear up the Hate Train

May 22, 2013 Adam Thomas

Yes. Sir.

Holy crap, what a great day it is to be a Raiders fan. Not only did the Raiders sign Charles Woodson on Tuesday, but it turns out that he chose the Raiders OVER the Denver Broncos, which caused the internet bloggers to collectively pee their pants. How in the world could Woodson sign with the Raiders, who everybody is pegging as the worst team in the league right now on May 22, over the almighty Denver Broncos, who everybody is already handing the Superbowl to even though–again–it’s only May 22nd?

Let’s take a look at some of the hate, shall we?

From Evan Silva, everyone’s favorite hater of everything, of Rotoworld: “He’s chosen the Raiders over the Broncos despite the fact that Denver is on the cusp of the Super Bowl, and Oakland is one of the worst teams in the league. However Woodson spins it, money was almost certainly the determining factor.”

And when it turned out a few hours later that the Raiders in fact only offered Woodson $600,000 more than the Broncos (I use the world ‘Only’ because Woodson has made millions), here is what Silva had to say: “Unless the Broncos’ base offer was dramatically lower, it’s definitely surprising Woodson chose the cellar-dwelling Raiders over Denver based on a theoretical extra $600,000. Money talks.”

Yes. Money talks. So do the 100 fans who showed up at the Raiders headquarters to welcome Woodson back to Oakland, so does the fact that he has a long and storied history with the Raiders, and so does the fact that the man runs a winery located in Napa Valley–which is where the Raiders hold training camp.

Saying that Woodson chose the Raiders over the Broncos for just a wee bit more money is ridiculous.

Another nice internet blogger who hates on everything is the guy over at Walterfootball (I’m guessing his name is Walt). Here’s what he had to say about the signing: “I don’t really understand this signing for either side in terms of a pure football perspective. The Raiders have one of the least-talented rosters in recent memory. Sure, Woodson is an upgrade over what they already have (Usama Young), but when it comes down to it, his presence will do one of two things: 1) Make Oakland win enough games to take the franchise out of contention for Teddy Bridgewater and some of the other top quarterbacks, yet still keep them out of the playoffs. 2) Have no impact because he’ll be 37 soon, meaning it’ll just be a waste of money.

For Woodson, the best scenario for him would have been to go to a Super Bowl contender like the Broncos or 49ers to give him a chance for another Super Bowl ring. By signing with Oakland, it shows that Woodson’s No. 1 priority is money. Free agents who chase big contracts almost never pan out. It’s very fair to question whether Woodson’s heart is still in the game.”

Hate hate hate hate hate. So Walt’s theory is that it is bad for the Raiders to sign Woodson because doing so will make them win more games (which is, you know, kind of the POINT OF PLAYING PROFESSIONAL SPORTS) and take them out of contention for a QB who may–or may not be–the number one pick a year from now. Sound. Logic. That’d be like saying the Chiefs should’ve tanked last year to put them in a position to draft Matt Barkley–who at the time was considered a number one pick and we all know how that turned out.

The Denver Post, naturally, was not on board with the decision either: “If money, not winning the Super Bowl, was clearly Charles Woodson’s top priority, why would the Broncos want him anyway?  ‘There’s no freaking way he’d want to go to Oakland,’ Broncos corner Champ Bailey told 102.3 FM ESPN on Tuesday. It is hard to believe, Champ, but once again the almighty dollar prevailed.”

Peter King got in on the action as well: “I guess personal history mattered to Woodson. Maybe his wine business. But unless Denver made a horse dung offer, it’s a strange decision.”

Or how about, it’s a perfectly normal decision. A guy with one more season left in his career wanted to finish it out with the team that brought him into the league. Isn’t that how it should be?

 

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Michael Silver: The Raiders aren’t as lucky as the Colts

March 28, 2013 Adam Thomas

michael-silver-glassesMichael Silver wrote an article last night talking about how Carson Palmer doesn’t want to play for the Raiders this year even if they pay him $10 million.  OK. Then Carson Palmer is an idiot, but we already knew this much.

What we didn’t know is that Silver somehow got his hands on a ‘document’ from inside the Raiders headquarters comparing the Colts situation to the Raiders last offseason. Now, before I go into how stupid this argument is because the Colts had THE NUMBER ONE PICK IN THE NFL DRAFT WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE ANDREW FREAKING LUCK A ONCE IN A GENERATION QUARTERBACK, let me talk about some other problems with the column:

1.) Silver pulls most of his quotes from ‘a source.’ Nothing is more frustrating than a writer hiding behind a nameless source (one who, quite honestly, sounds like he is Carson Palmer’s agent).

2.) Silver mentions that the Raiders had no draft picks last year and politely declines to mention how his BFF Hue Jackson was the one responsible for causing the Raiders to cough up a 1st and 2nd round pick for a proven quitter who is now about to quit on his 2nd team in 4 years.

3.) In one paragraph, Silver mentions that this offseason the Raiders let big impact players like Philip Wheeler get away. In the next paragraph he mentions Reggie McKenzie’s bad free agent signings. He fails to mention that Wheeler was signed by Reggie McKenzie…so I guess he didn’t miss on all of the free agents he brought in.

Now, as for the Colts/Raiders comparison, it doesn’t make sense for a couple of reasons.

1.) The Colts have been perenial contenders with ONE bad season in an otherwise stellar run. To wit: 2007: 13-3; 2008: 12-4; 2009: 14-2; 2010: 10-6 and then they had their bad season in 2011 when they went 2-14 and got the first overall pick. The Raiders have been without a winning season since 2003.

2.) The Colts had the first overall pick which was Andrew Luck. The Raiders didn’t pick until the very last pick in the third round.

3.) The Colts had ten draft picks, the Raiders had 5.

4.) Silver–or rather, Silver quoting from the ‘document’ he obtained–states that the Colts and Raiders had similar dead money situations: the Colts had $38 million in dead money and the Raiders had $28 million.

The difference? The Colts were able to get out of salary cap hell in one year. This year, they had $41 million in cap room when the offseason started. And what did they do with all of that cap-room? They signed a bunch of questionable players: Laron Landry got $14 million guaranteed, Ricky Jean Francois was given $22 million over 4 years and someone named Gosder Cherilus was given a $34 million over 5 years. So in the one year the Colts GM had money to spend, he spent it poorly. And even with all of those signings they still have over $11 million in cap space.

The Raiders meanwhile have $23 million of dead money this year. That is almost as much as last year. AND they only had about $4.5 million in salary cap space when free agency opened. After cutting and signing some players, they have about $7 million now. So they still had to take a chain saw to their roster, still had dead money, and still basically had no money to spend. That’s how bad their situation is.

5.) OK now here is the big one. You know how many games the 11-5 Colts won in 2012 by 5 points or less? 6.

You know how many games the 8-8 2011 Raiders won by 5 points or less? 4. And we all know what happened to them last year.

So, who wants to bet that the Colts take a BIG step back next year? I certainly do.

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