The Raiders reportedly cut $11.82 million against the salary cap by restructuring the contracts of both Richard Seymour and Michael Huff.  Seymour's restructuring is no surprise as he was a lock to make the team already with the team allowing a deadline to pass earlier this season that fully guaranteed his contract for the year.  Huff was considered a prime candidate to either restructure or be cut.  His restructuring means that he's definitely in the Raiders' plans this year.  Huff's position is yet to be set by the current staff.  He could either slide into FS, where he's played since being drafted in 2006.  The previous administration had plans to move him to cornerback but new coach Dennis Allen has not weighed in on which position he sees him playing in his defense.

You can read about the details of the restructuring here.

2012 Free Agency begins next Tuesday, March 13th at 4pm.  The first in a series of looks at positions the Raiders may target.

2011 starters: Stanford Routt and varied

Offseason Moves so far:
cut Stanford Routt
signed Brandon Underwood

Although the Raiders announced they were going to place the franchise tag on safety Tyvon Branch late last week, the official paperwork didn't go through until yesterday afternoon, shortly before the 4 PM deadline.

It capped off a wild day in which more than half the league franchised someone on their team that otherwise would have gone to Unrestricted Free Agency.

What's more exciting: NFL Free Agency or the NFL Draft? I'd say Free Agency this year, because it's got some REAL big hooters on it.
 
With no draft picks on day one, free agency may be where the most change comes for the Raiders. There's a lot of free agents, so there's a good chance to upgrade that lackluster defense.


The Raiders D has been under performing like an impotent man who promises his wife love, only to slide off the bed, and knock himself out on the nightstand. That's what the Raiders defense has been known to do...hurt themselves.

In the 2000's, the Colts became a perennial playoff team because of their explosive offense.  Clearly, much of that had to do with Peyton being who he is.  But as we've seen in more recent years, a good QB cannot do it alone.  He needs explosive players around him to be able to catch the balls he throws and carry the ball as well.  And in that decade much of the Colts' success came with Manning, Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James – affectionately known as the Triplets.

Moving into the 2012 season, the Raiders are looking at a trio that could be their own version of the Triplets if they can reach their considerable potential.  Each of the three has the skills and explosion to be able to be among the best at their position but each has their own question marks as well.

I get questions from time to time on when things will happen so I thought I'd consolidate those into a posting.

Monday, March 5th: End of Franchise Period
Deadline for teams to designate a player as having the franchise tag.  Teams will really start prep for their plans of action for free agency.

Tuesday, March 13th: Free Agency.
I wouldn't expect Raiders to be active in first few days because they won't have the money to sign many, if any, big names.  I think they have a shot at one mid level name – someone like Tracy Porter – but even that is questionable with the salary situation.  We'll see how things shake out in the next few days with players' contracts.

The Raiders have used the franchise tag on Tyvon Branch, the team announced today.  In a press release announcing the move, Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie praised Branch, stating, "Tyvon is a talented, productive player who we hope will be wearing the silver and black for many years to come. We will continue to work on a long-term deal to make that happen."

There is also a possibility that the Raiders and Branch will come to a long term contract very soon in which case the franchise tag could be rescinded and used on another player.  That seems unlikely at this point, however, and there isn't any other free agent on which it would be needed.

There was some speculation that the Raiders might tag backup RB Michael Bush but the tag is projected to be approximately 7.7 million dollars for a one year contract for running backs versus a projected 6.2 million for safeties.  The actual amount is not known because the new tag calculations are tied in with the salary cap, which is widely expected to be approximately 120 million dollars this year, but has yet to be announced.

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