ESPN is reporting that Javon Walker has signed a contract with the Oakland Raiders.
"The terms of the deal call for Walker to receive a six-year, $55 million contract that includes more than $16 million in guarantees and pays him roughly $27 million over the first three years of the deal.Soon after being released, at least a third of the league reached out to the six-year veteran"
I’m going to let this deal sit for a minute before commenting too much, but my initial thoughts are that this signing is a good one. The Raiders gave him money that he probably wasn’t going to see elsewhere, but not enough for it to be considered over paying; ok maybe a little. Walker is 29, and though I’m not completely comparing him to Randy Moss or Terrell Owens, he does have nearly equal talent and he’s 2 years younger; he’s just struggled to stay healthy 2 out of the last 3 seasons.
The only concern I have right now is signing all these players (Tommy Kelly and Gibril Wilson) to deals with so much money in the first couple seasons. At the same time the salary cap will continue to get larger every off-season, so maybe the Raiders know what they’re doing. There’s tons to discuss when it comes to the risk the Raiders will be taking on signing a player with injury concerns to such a large contract, but that’s going to take time, and that’s one thing I don’t have right now. I’ll post something once I have more time, and more information is released.