August 25, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis (left) and general manager Reggie McKenzie (right) watch before the game against the Detroit Lions at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The sun is beating down from in between the clouds in Oakland, California. O.co Coliseum is packed, and the Black Hole is roaring. RG3′s jersey is covered in grass stains as sweat drips from his brow. He glances up at the clock and sees that their one first down away from sealing a win. The Redskin’s quarterback takes the snap and drops back to pass, he steps up in the pocket to avoid a bear hug from Lamarr Houston. As he begins to scramble out of the pocket, Sio Moore, leaves his linebacker position to cause some damage. Unable to escape, Griffith, unloads a tight spiral to Pierre Garcon’s deep in route. As the ball floats towards the receiver’s grasp, it meets an unexpected yet familiar face. Number 24, Charles Woodson, flies in from the safety position to pluck the ball away. The crowd goes wild and Mark Davis cuts his hair.

This could be a very real reality for Oakland Raider fans (minus the Mark Davis haircut). Charles Woodson has expressed how anxious he is to return to the field via NFL.com.

So would Oakland be interested in signing their former corner? At the current moment, Oakland seems to be all set in the secondary. However, can McKenzie turn down the former Packer? Woodson would certainly add veteran leadership, and of course his stellar ability to play anywhere in the secondary. McKenzie knows that from his time in Green Bay. The Canton bound Woodson would turn this into an extremely potent defense.

With D.J. Hayden and Mike Jenkins ready to start at corner(Tracy Porter at nickel corner), Woodson would most likely fit best at safety. Alongside the helmet smashing Tyvon Branch, quarterbacks would just stop passing the ball. Unfortunately for Usama Young, he would have to wait another season or two in order to get his shot.

In my opinion Reggie has to at least kick the tires on this guy. Sit him down, feed him lunch, talk about taking a pay cut and the difference he would be making. Then Reggie can move on to addressing issues of real concern (offensive and defensive line). If Woodson signs, great. If not, than at least we tried.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

So, the Green Bay Packers have decided to part ways with former Raider Charles Woodson and his $10-million salary in 2013. Naturally that has fueled some speculation that Reggie McKenzie, a former front office man for the Packers, will dial the free agent DB in hopes of orchestrating a reunion.

That’s nice and all for the storybook quality of Woodson’s career but the reality is very far from that fantasy.

Charles Woodson will not be a Raider again.

There are any number of reasons why Oakland and Woodson will never cross paths again. Here are the most obvious ones.

1) Woodson has stated his desire to play for a title contender. Unless every NFL franchise except  Oakland loses its top players to injury, illness or alien abduction then the Raiders will not be title contenders during the small window of time remaining in Woodson’s playing days.

2) This franchise is in full reboot mode. Inking another veteran DB won’t help to move things forward and will in fact do the exact opposite by stalling the growth process.

3) Has everyone forgotten how things ended for Woodson in Oakland? I know, I know, Bill Callahan isn’t around anymore. But if you worked for Best Buy and your boss was an arrogant douche that constantly threw you under the bus would you ever want to work for that same Best Buy again? I’m guessing the mere thought of sitting in the same employee break room knowing how many hours you spent stewing there is enough to throw your car in reverse the second you hit the parking lot.

4) There is just no money to pay a veteran player like Woodson who will surely get more lucrative offers from other teams.

In theory it’s a nice way to bookend a Hall of Fame career…from the outside perspective at least. On the inside, more specifically the Woodson side of the fence, it’s just not realistic. If/when Woodson enters the Hall of Fame he’ll be doing so as a Packer, not a Raider. This is how he’ll be remembered with his Oakland days a mere footnote in his storied career.

May 22, 2012; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders coach Dennis Allen (right) talks with safety Michael Huff (24) during organized team activities at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Still, there was never a clearly defined role for Huff in Davis’ defense. Yes, we all knew it was AD who was the true defensive coordinator of the Raiders and we didn’t need Huff to confirm that but he did exactly that today. When asked about the new look silver and black D under Dennis Allen Huff didn’t hold back in expressing the difference between Al’s scheme and Allen’s.

“Nothing personal, but obviously, before with Al, rest in peace, he had his hands in all the defense. He had all his little things he liked to do. Now with D.A. (Dennis Allen) out there, we’ve got all kinds of blitzes, we’ve got 3-4, 4-3 fronts, just a lot of variety and different things going on. So I’m going to love it.”

Huff actually went on to say he was excited about being able to play in a “real defense”.

That might seem like a subtle shot at Davis – and it is – but it is also the brutal honest truth. Davis never adapted his schemes to stop more modern NFL offenses. The same old 4-3 with man coverage was the standard and the Raiders rarely deviated from that philosophy.

For a guy like Huff, who does so many things so well yet nothing great, it was a case of a square peg being fit into a round hole. His up and down play early in his career had Huff looking like draft bust. Despite Huff’s improved play there was still talk of changing his position again this time making the roaming safety into a full-time nickel corner.

Luckily for Huff along came Coach Allen. In Allen’s scheme Huff will be everywhere and nowhere on the field of play much like how the Green Bay Packers put former Raider Charles Woodson to good use.

Now this isn’t exactly an entirely new usage of Huff. He’s been playing all over the field since he was a rookie. The difference this time around is that it won’t just be Huff moving all over as the entire defense will shift from down to down. The goal is to keep the offense constantly guessing.

“We don’t want (the offense) knowing pre-snap what we’re in. The main thing is, they have to learn as the quarterback drops back, still guessing what we’re in, kind of learn on the fly. Then hopefully our front four will get after them.”

That’s where Allen’s approach differs greatly for AD’s. Whereas Huff would lineup in different positions under the Davis scheme the basic principles remained the same. If Huff was in the slot then odds are he’s playing man on the slot receiver. If he’s the lone deep safety then the Raiders are in their standard man scheme with Huff left as the last line of defense. All of this could be easily sniffed out by opposing QBs pre-snap.

Under Allen it will be Huff unleashed as he’ll blitz, mix up coverages and create general havoc. Basically Allen will be putting to use all of those physical attributes that endeared Huff to Davis. So in many ways all Allen is doing is giving new life to Al’s ideals. He also could be giving Huff a second lease on life in the NFL. If this new scheme has anything close to the same effect on Huff’s career as it did Woodson’s then we’ll be seeing the start of something that was previously a pipedream – Michael Huff in a Pro Bowl uniform.