Really Worth IT??

Not worth it

By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 5:41 pm inOakland Raiders.

I remember last year around this time when Raider fans, anxious for a piece of free agent action, were ready to pitch themselves out of windows because players scheduled for visits such as running back Travis Henry and tight end Daniel Graham ended up signing with Denver.

So Bernard Berrian signs with Minnesota and Donte Stallworth with Cleveland . . . so what?

Berrian, Stallworth and Jerry Porter pocketed $36 million worth of guaranteed money in the free agent market.

Porter’s career high in receiving yards is 998, Berrian had a personal best 951 last season and Stallworth topped out at 945 in New Orleans.

None of them, obviously, were among the 23 receivers in the NFL who had 1,000 yards receiving in 2007. Or among the 19 that had 1,000 yards in 2006. Or included in the group of 20 that had 1,00 yards in 2005.

In 2004, 24 receivers had 1,000 yards receiving and Porter was 25th at 998.

Getting 1,000 yards in the NFL doesn’t make you an elite receiver. It just includes you in the conversation of the very good.

As shaky as the Raiders receiving corps looked last season, much of the lack of production had to do with quarterback play. If Oakland can get JaMarcus Russell going and adequately protect him, receiving numbers will follow.

And those numbers won’t come at the cost of Porter, Berrian or Stallworth.

Losing players such as Henry and Graham wasn’t what hurt the Raiders last season, because they were outperformed by the likes of Justin Fargas and Zach Miller. Both came much cheaper and established themselves as part of Oakland’s future.

Sometimes the best free agent move is the guy you didn’t sign.

I see a lot of good points here, the only thing I am curious about is what the Raiders are going to do in the Draft??   Obviously, there is now a huge need at Wide Receiver -  much bigger than before.  Interesting Draft coming ....

We still have Higgins and Curry, and we should be able to snatch a decent WR or two in the draft. Not landing Berrian is not the end of the world

I have to agree with the above statement,  and I also expect the Oakland Raiders to sign a Free Agent Wide receiver before the Draft.   The sheer number (or lack of, really) of the Wide Receivers on the current Raider roster would seem to dictate that the Raiders Must sign a veteran FA WR and then address the need at the position further on Draft day. 

Tommy Kelly will not see 50 Mil. 

He has the 18 Mil in guaranteed money, and beyond that nothing is guaranteed.   Same as all the other contracts signed around the NFL. 

 We hear the reported Totals of the contracts signed, but never the actual amount guaranteed and whether or not the contact is backloaded or not (probably is). 

  Whether Tommy Kelly is worth 50 Mil right now is a one-sided debate.  Many of us say Hell No. 

But, the Oakland Raiders do know more about the player than we do -- hence the investment of the 18 Mil so far.  Funny how people jump all over an organization when they don't understand the Cap ramifications of contracts such as this one.    I don't pretend to even have the slightest idea of what Tommy Kelly will count against the 2009  or  2010 NFL salary Cap.. Nor do i care, that's the NFL teams job. 

If you want to act like you know all there is to know about the salary cap and what exactly Tommy Kelly and every other players' salary cap impact is over the next 6 or 7 years to their respective teams, knock yourselves out. 

Former Raiders personnel executive Mike Lombardi had this to say about Tommy Kelly’s gargantuan contract while serving as an analyst on free agency for the NFL Network:

“Let me just say I’m really happy I didn’t negotiate that contract because they’re going to have to live with that one for a long time.”'

You could infer a couple of things from that statement: 1) Lombardi doesn’t think Kelly is anywhere near worth that kind of money; and 2) If Kelly doesn’t ascend beyond above average, then Al Davis is going to hold negotiators Marc Badain and Mark Jackson responsible.