Another (losing) season in the books. For the first time in four years we didn't improve, but we didn't do any worse either. With the somewhat speedy revelation that Jamarcus Russell is apathetic and not the guy to lead us to glory, we've seemingly taken a big step forward in righting the ship. Unprecedented demand has risen up for a legitimate front office in Oakland, and some truly noble fans have made that fact hard to ignore.
To close things out, I'd like to take a look at some potential free agents who may or may not walk this off-season, as well as a discussion about what some of these guys have contributed over the years.
RFAs without an asterisk will have completed three NFL seasons. Players who have an asterisk (*) following their names are fourth- or fifth-year players who would be unrestricted free agents if a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is reached prior to March. If not, the NFL will go into an uncapped season, and those players will become restricted free agents
Jon Alston*, OLB- A career special-teamer who has contributed at LB on occasion. There's no apparent reason not to re-sign if he can be bought for the right price. Otherwise, there's not a great reason to not let him walk either.
Khalif Barnes*, OLB - Not quite the contributor I had hoped for, but he's a serviceable tackle and until better options arise, I'd move to retain him.
Ricky Brown*, OLB - Another special teamer, and the case with Jon Alston also goes for this gentleman.
Hiram Eugene, FS - He's no Polamalu, but there's no great free agent safety available, and unless they decide to go Eric Berry in the draft, they should move quickly to resign Eugene.
Charlie Frye*, QB - A serviceable #2 that we were fortunate enough to have at #3 to start the year. If not for the next guy on this list, I'd be screaming to re-sign him. In fact, if we had the choice of retaining two of the three QBs on the roster, I'd have to vote for Frye and...
Bruce Gradkowski*, QB - The man who briefly restored the greatness of the franchise! With wins against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, it would be hard to watch Bruce walk away, and I would wager quite a few teams would be calling were he to be allowed to. He's going to need a pay raise and a chance to start, and I think he should be given both, in spades.
Cornell Green, OT - Whether or not he's the right tackle we want, he's still the starting left tackle and I don't see any on the roster who would make a strong replacement. Could it be a first-round pick could go to this ever-porous O-line?
Thomas Howard*, OLB - He's a starting linebacker, and I don't like our depth at the position. Slade Norris could possibly fill the role but I don't think it will be a long-term solution. This would be a great position to reload on in free agency or with mid-round draft picks.
Sebastian Janikowski, K - After the clutch season Sea Bass had, we've GOT to keep him. His catapult of a leg has become synonymous with the outlaw Raider Nation. Give him Vinatieri money!
Luke Lawton, FB - Let him walk. He's suspended for the first two games of next year and isn't a big contributor anyways. The fullback spot is a revolving door in Oakland and we won't miss Lawton's production.
Chris Morris, C - Samson Satele did a decent job this season, but he should be our backup center. We've got to get stronger and younger at this position, and soon. Let him walk.
Kirk Morrison*, ILB - The brains of our lukewarm defense, and a figurehead of this team. Sign him quick, but get him cheap. We'll need some big money to keep Seymour around.
Stanford Routt*, CB - Throw this guy a "Get the Hell Out!" parade. Also, have the video crew make him a DVD of all the blown coverages and botched plays he's been a central figure of for the past five years. Let New England sign him to their steadily mediocre stable of corners. He'll be a great counterpart to Leigh Bodden, who couldn't cut it in Detroit.
Gary Russell, FB - What's with all our LBs and FBs being FAs this year? That's just bad timing. Anyways, unless they've got someone they like in the draft to come in at FB they need to re-sign Gary. Marcel Reese did the backup work yesterday and was a scary prospect for the start. Let's get deeper here, guys.
Richard Seymour, DE - How clutch was this guy? I would have been SO much more stoked on this trade over the season had I believed we would get to keep him for more than one mediocre season. Unfortunately, we've got a lot of clutch guys to sign and it all starts with Seymour. We gave up a first round pick for him, so it figures that we're going to owe him first-round pick money to stick around (plus more guaranteed).
Langston Walker, G - The site I got the free agent list from lists Walker as an OT, while the official Raiders depth chart has him at guard. This likely means Walker didn't work out for us at OT, and therefore was moved to G in a Robert Gallery-like effort to get value out of him. Once Gallery is back, this guy should be less important and can probably be allowed to walk away. However, he's not in much demand and will probably be re-signed for cheap. Works for me.
Sam Williams, OLB - Yet another LB on the free agent board, but this one we won't miss. He's hardly contributed a thing on defense (though I know nothing of his ST contributions) in the past seven years, so whether or not this guy sticks will largely have to do with how cheap they can retain him for.
I apologize if anything listed here is inaccurate, but this was the most reliable list of Oakland free agents I could find. Many of these will prove to be Restricted Free Agents and therefore just barely merit discussion, but I did it anyways.
Coming in the next few weeks/months will be detailed scouting reports on the Raiders' potential 2010 first round draft picks. Really, it'll be a discussion of the top ten or so available draft picks, but with a decidedly Oakland Raiders twist. Hell, I might even throw out my playoff picks which obviously will have nothing to do with the Raiders (this year!).
Here's to another season that, if nothing else, was entertaining as hell.
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