Kevin Hoffman-US PRESSWIRE

Just two years ago the Oakland Raiders boasted of three of the NFL’s top-10 cover corners according the somewhat meaningless ‘burn rate’ stat. After today all three are no longer with the franchise. Nnamdi Asomugha left via free agency last offseason. Stanford Routt was recently released and has since found a new home in Kansas City. And today Chris Johnson was given his walking papers. Joining Johnson on the way out is safety/special teamer Hiram Eugene.

The obvious storyline is that the Raiders are still in the process of creating more cap space. The reality is neither Johnson nor Eugene had much of a future in Oakland and perhaps not in the NFL at all for that matter.

Johnson came out of nowhere back in 2008 when he stepped up his game giving Al Davis all the more reason to quickly sever ties with DeAngelo Hall. Johnson earned the biggest contract he’ll ever see in his pro career and since has battle injury and ineffective play. 2011 was pretty much a wash for Johnson as he began the year with surgery, never to regain full health.

Eugene was another Al Davis project. The speedy safety entered the league as an undrafted free agent and managed to stick around the Bay by being a part-time contributor on defense and a fulltime asset on special teams.

Of all the questionable contracts Mr. Davis handed in recent years the deal he struck with Eugene last offseason is right up there with the Javon Walker contract. While not nearly as lucrative, that the Raiders gave Hiram a four-year contract worth over $8-million was obscene.

Eugene is a terrific athlete that has the unique ability to cover a lot of turf in a little time, a highly valuable trait as an NFL safety. His was also a valuable member of the special teams. However there is no way to justify a four-year contract for a man that only became a starter no thanks to a highly unimpressive collection of safeties (not talking about you, Tyvon Branch) and who had only  one pick in his career.

While Eugene’s lone INT was a memorable one during Oakland’s surprising win in Pittsburgh a few years back it wasn’t as memorable as the stiff arm Willis McGahee hit him with.

A hip injury in the preseason ended the year for Eugene and there is some speculation that his career could be over. Despite my feelings about his out-of-whack contract, I truly hope he can catch on somewhere else. I have nothing for respect for the UFAs of the NFL. They are truly made men in a brutal sport.

All that being said it was time to terminate both of these scholarship contracts. While the moves are both expected and necessary it leaves the Raiders even thinner in their already Angelina Jolie waistline of a secondary. Johnson was by no means going to make much of a difference going forward but the Raiders are now without any corners capable of stepping in and starting next season. These moves could get Oakland within cap compliance but even more transactions must be made before they can consider pursuing free agents starting next Tuesday.

Most of what you see is the product of clever editing and what we refer to as Frankenbiting. This is where you take dialogue and edit it in such a way that it helps to propel the trumped up drama forward. When you consider the inability of your average “reality star” to express themselves in a coherent way or simply unable to get to the point then this becomes a necessary process.

All that being said the HBO series Hard Knocks is the gold standard of reality television.

To begin with it has the quickest turnaround in all of the reality world. Your average reality show usually finishes all of its principal photography over a month before its debut. Hard Knocks cranks out episodes a mere week after shooting.

But it doesn’t stop there.
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Well, that dreaded day has come as Aso failed to meet certain contractual incentives thus voiding his deal and placing the best cover corner in the NFL on the free agent market. As if that alone isn’t cause for concern, Davis is powerless to slap either the franchise or transition on Nnamdi.

Now, normally this might not seem so concerning. Coming off the most enjoyable season of his pro career in Oakland, you’d think Nnamdi would be onboard to re-up with the only franchise he’s ever played for. Many will cite the obscene amount of bread Davis tossed at Aso as the reason he chose to stay in the Bay last time. Truth be told, Nnamdi is a stand up guy who sought to finish what he started by helping to turn the Raiders around.

In addition, Asomugha has become very involved in the East Bay community and is among the most charitable athletes today in pro sports.

In a normal world you’d assume the Raiders would have the inside track on bringing their most prized possession back.

But this isn’t the “normal” world. This is the Al Davis world where guys like Tom Cable are shown the exit just as he’s got his team finding an entrance into NFL respectability. This is the world in which Davis hands out wretched long term contracts to the likes of DeAngelo Hall and Javon Walker yet is unable to secure longer deals for All-Pros like Asomugha and Richard Seymour.

This is either the moment things begin to truly fall apart or begin to come together as Davis’ overblown ego and tragic insecurity have once again taken his franchise back to the crossroads.

No telling what the future holds for Nnamdi. At this point he must feel like a character in some existential piece authored by Kafka. Since he’s arrived in Oakland, Nnamdi’s days have been spent waiting for a ray of sunshine to creep through the dark clouds so that the tree of success might finally grow. Then, just as that tree was finally beginning to bear fruit along comes Al Davis with an axe.