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According to the Oakland Tribune, Raiders coach Lane Kiffin confirmed Friday that Andrew Walter is on the trade block. It's unfortunate that this investment has turned out so bad. I suspect he'll be asked about by other teams. I don't expect us to get much for him though.
The Oakland Tribune believes Daunte Culpepper did enough Thursday night to be the Raiders' starting quarterback in Week 1. Personally, I agree. McCown looked bad out there last night. He couldn't hit the deep man and was inaccurate on short passes as well. He handled himself well in the pocket, but wasn't decisive enough to bolt for first downs when he had the chance. None of it could be blamed on the offensive line either, as they gave him all the time in the world.
The other day Lane Kiffin was saying that didn't expect to need to hide players during pre-season games to keep other teams from seeing how good the Raider cast-offs were. This was a direct indictment of how bad most of our bench players were compared to other squads. I'm going to bet that he may have changed his tune after this first cut down. Cutting Doug Gabriel a couple days ago couldn't have been easy. Yesterday it got worse as Johnnie Morant and Kevin Huntley were released. Just a few months ago, both were being considered for starting jobs. Thanks to the strength of our rookie class, neither player even sniffed the first team. My hope is that both clear waivers and we can pick them back up for our practice squad.
On the drive home from work I was listening to SIRIUS NFL Radio. They were talking about Vick, like they have been pretty much solid for the last two months. Frankly, it's almost impossible to listen to any NFL radio when they ramble on about that jackass for hours on end. Anyways, part of their rambling usually covers the Falcons dire need for a QB. They then take about McCown and Walter as options to back up Harrington. What I have not heard yet is any mention of trading JaMarcus Russell. It seems like the most logical conversation. What better way to wash away the memory of Vick than to bring in a strong armed pocket passer like JaMarcus. He's a hero down there already after his success at LSU and he would be a media magnet and serious positive force for that team. Why look for a career backup like McCown or Walter when you can get a player that can turn the entire off-season of crazy Vick activity into a positive? Hell, they even have the money now that they shed the Vick contract.
Why in the hell would the Raiders make that trade? How about our inability to cut a contract? I agree that isn't a good enough reason. How about Culpepper, McCown and Walter? They seem to be holding their own. If Culpepper has a break out season, we can then sign him long term. With Walter under contract for a few more years, we really would be fine at QB. Still not good enough? How about the compensation we could demand? Let's start with Atlanta's 2008 1st round and 2nd round picks and finish it off with their 2009 1st rounder. That may not be enough to make Al happy, but considering that Atlanta will not be great this year, that 2008 pick would likely land in the top 5.
Ultimately, it looks a lot like a win-win deal. Atlanta find a way to heal after it's summer in hell, and the Raiders find a way to deal with a $60M rookie contract. I have no doubt Arthur Blank has the money ty pay JaMarcus whatever he wants. The linchpin in all of this is Culpepper playing up to our expectations.
The San Francisco Chronicle believes Daunte Culpepper could be traded or released if he doesn't win the Raiders' starting job. This doesn't even qualify as news. Frankly, anything from the San Francisco Chronicle and Nancy Gay should be flushed down the toilet. Culpepper is our starter this year.
NFL Network's Adam Schefter reports the Raiders have released WR Doug Gabriel. This isn't much of a surprise. Mike Williams and Johnnie Lee Higgins dropped Gabriel to the bottom of the depth chart. There is no way we're going to pay $1.7M for a receiver who will never see the field.
