Oakland Raiders Who May Never Wear Silver and Black Again
By Vic Lopez
Nov 30, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
The Free Agents…..
Really deserved their own article, I decided to clump all the disappointment into one slide. Makes it easier to swallow.
The list is long….
Matt Schaub, Maurice Jones-Drew, Lamar Woodley, Carlos Rogers, Tarell Brown, amongst a few other less notable names. For now will stick to these five who should never wear Silver and Black again.
Much has been said about Reggie McKenzie’s poor 2014 Free Agent class. But one thing stands out…all of these contracts are cap friendly prove it or your cut deals. Meaning, Reggie took no long-term risk with any of these players, and they can all be cut with no dead money. Criticize Reggie all you want, but what these contracts tell me is Reggie was picking from the bottom of the barrel. No prime, top end, talented players wanted to come to Oakland, even for a bigger pay-day.
First off Schaub had no chance of staying in a Raider uniform after losing the starting job to rookie Derek Carr. Schaub may have trouble finding a backup job in the NFL after his poor showing in Oakland. (May have a future as a placeholder though)
MJD was a welcomed addition in Oakland given his Bay Area ties. But after 43 carries, 96 yards and a 2.2 yard avg, Jones-Drew could be looking at retirement instead of the resurgence he had in mind. Can Jones-Drew still be an effective running back in the NFL? Maybe, but the Raiders should not be the ones to find out.
Lamar Woodley in Oakland look great on paper, but never quite materialized on the field. What little production he provided before his injury, is not worth the money keeping him around even as a backup. Benson Mayowa looks promising and is a much cheaper option.
Both Carlos Rogers and Tarell Brown have been solid corner backs in this league. But neither brought the much-needed boost to a young and injury riddled Oakland secondary. Brown was supposed to solidify the starting corner spot opposite DJ Hayden. Brown proved inconsistent at best and not worth keeping around after one year in Oakland. Ditto for Rogers, whose age and injuries caught up with him, after being forced into a starting role early. Rogers is simply a backup/nickel corner at best at this stage of his career.