Raiders' new GM Reggie's McKenzie's philosophy is starting to take shape now 3 days into his first free agency.
For starters, he's not a fan of contracts that he feels are "out of whack." John Henderson, Kevin Boss, Chris Johnson, Stanford Routt, Carson Palmer, Richard Seymour, Hiram Eugene - all had contracts that were either too high for their level of play or too much a hit against the salary cap and all were mentioned as being possible targets.
Those Raiders fans who were interested in the Raiders making some moves in day two of the 2012 free agency market came away disappointed.
The Raiders continue to wait patiently while the market falls and their money can stretch farther.
Even while waiting the team was still making moves, however. Today the team released two more players - G Cooper Carlisle and DT John Henderson.
Carlisle is 34 and been with the Raiders since 2007 and has started for the team ever since, missing only one game in that time. He specialized in the zone blocking scheme but has been able to survive in the power blocking scheme that Hue Jackson brought with him. He was due $3.3 million this season and his release saves the Raiders $2.1 million against the cap.
no commentsThe first day of free agency came and went with the Raiders making no sounds at all. No signings, no rumors, no scheduled visits announced. And this is a good thing.
The first day of free agency is when teams tend to overspend to fill a need instead of waiting for the right value. The Raiders can neither afford to overspend nor need to.
As someone on Twitter pointed out yesterday, no team that has "won" free agency has ever gone on to win the Super Bowl. The two simply aren't compatible. Free agency can field some good values but those aren't found on the first day.
In a move that had leaked out a week or so ago via sources with the team, the Raiders officially cut TE Kevin Boss today, after only one year with the team.
Boss was signed last year as a replacement to departing free agent TE Zach Miller. His contract was for 4 years, with a maximum of $16 million dollars, which isn't a huge financial burden on the team. He was due a base salary of $2 million, this season, with an additional roster bonus of $2 million this week.
Today at 4:00 pm the free agency officially starts. As always, expect some of the biggest Free Agents to sign almost immediately. Even though teams are not supposed to talk to the free agents or their agents until the start of the Free Agency period, it's no secret that all teams do so.
My expectations are that the Raiders won't sign anyone right away. The team's contract situation is such that they are unable to absorb much contract space in this season and they will pick their players very carefully and probably wait for some of the lesser free agent players' prices to fall as they don't get the interest they hoped on the market.
2012 Free Agency begins next Tuesday, March 13th at 4pm. The sixth in a series of looks at positions the Raiders may target.
2011 Starters:
Darrius Heyward-Bey
Denarius Moore
Offseason Moves so far: none
On the Roster:
Darrius Heyward-Bey
Denarius Moore
Jacoby Ford
Louis Murphy
Derrick Jones
2012 Free Agency begins next Tuesday, March 13th at 4pm. The fifth in a series of looks at positions the Raiders may target.
