Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

Reggie McKenzie knew all along he was going to rebuild the Oakland Raiders from the ground up. So why he let the likes of Tommy Kelly last even one season on his watch is a little puzzling. Today Kelly was officially cut loose from the Oakland Raiders as only 18 Al Davis picked players remain on the roster

I’m sure there are cap gurus out there that could better explain McKenzie’s logic than I. In fact from where I sit I see no logic.

For me McKenzie should have made this move when it was rumored a year ago. At least we wouldn’t have been fooled into thinking this new regime had designs on trying to win. We were led to believe the Al Davis memorial scholarship program was gone a year ago. Yet many of Al’s scholarship athletes were left to twist in the wind for a full season on salary.

Michael Huff was asked to play a foreign position only to be shown the exit. After his best season as a pro Darrius Heyward-Bey was rendered irrelevant in an ill-fitting offense yet was given his release as if his dip in production was his fault alone. Now Kelly’s phat contract has suddenly become too much to bear.

I can’t stress enough how much I truly understand the awkward position McKenzie was put in when he assumed the position of general manager of the Oakland Raiders.

However many of these moves should have been made a year ago. This regime pretty much told us all we needed to know as a team that showed some promise in 2011 was scrapped in a matter of months in 2012. Now we’re being led down the path of another rebuilding process.

Tommy Kelly was never going to play at a level that justified his contract. He was solid for sure but far from dominant. None the less his unceremonious departure comes a dollar short and a day late for my taste.

But the good news is we’re another step closer to the Jadeveon Clowney sweepstakes…

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Last offseason I was surprised that Tommy Kelly survived Reggie McKenzie’s cap cleansing. Certainly Kelly’s production wasn’t the issues. This was not a Stanford Routt situation. To me it was just a matter of the financials.

One year later and it’s looking very likely that Kelly’s contract will be wiped off the books.

After racking up 7+ sacks during the 2010 and ’11 seasons Kelly fell off with just one sack in 2012 as he was largely invisible for most of the campaign. His cap figure of $11-million in 2013 is completely, as McKenzie might say, out-of-whack given his lack of production. Plus there is just no arguing that Oakland’s defense could have been just as bad with or without Kelly this past season.

It would be very shocking if Kelly makes it past the next week in Silver and Black let alone the next season. With free agency approaching and the Raiders needing to get in better shape with the salary cap the contracts of Kelly, Carson Palmer, Richard Seymour and Darrius Heyward-Bey are all likely to be major talking points in the coming days.

For Kelly it looks like his days are numbered. At 32-years-old there just isn’t much justification for keeping him on the payroll at his current salary. That’s the business of football.

Rob Leifheit-US PRESSWIRE

No sane person can blame Oakland’s ugly loss in Cincinnati on the latest injustice the Raiders have suffered at the hands of horrible officiating.

Yes, the negated fumble and possible touchdown return did turn the tide of the game whose tide was already turning in favor of the Raiders. But when you’re trying to make up a 24 point deficit there is not a single play that can turn the tide.

What we do know for sure is that inadvertent whistle helped to ignite a brawl that followed on the ensuing play.

Lamarr Houston – clearly tired of playing to the echo of whistles that might or might not have been blown intentionally – rushed Andy Dalton and took him to the ground after a whistle had blown. That set off Andrew Whitworth of the Bengals who quickly got in the face of Houston. That act in turn fired up Tommy Kelly to get in the mix.

While plenty of players piled on the scrum after the dust settled only three were ejected. All of the aforementioned men got an early shower and now they’ll await their fate for the coming weeks.

It should be pointed out that an ejection does not equate to an automatic suspension. The league reviews each case individually and has begun to do so following Sunday’s dust up.

For the Raiders losing both Kelly and Houston would be crippling as if a team mired in a miserable 4 game losing streak can be anymore crippled. However the second half of Sunday’s loss did provide some hope. The Silver and Black finally played up for Dennis Allen coming out of halftime and had a brief moment when the game was within touching distance. Of course we know how the game ended so the only drama remaining is to see what the league decides.