future Raider free agents...

Some big names for us. I hope we can lock some of these guys up. I we turn into contenders again so a lot of these guys will want to stay. What do you guys think??

2009: CB Nnamdi Asomugha, FS Rashad Baker, OG Cooper Carlisle, P Shane Lechler, WR Johnnie Morant, OL Chris Morris, TE Tony Stewart, TE Fred Wakefield, OT Seth Wand. Despite the grievous loss of Asomugha here, 2009 actually doesn’t look too too bad, and the Raiders could well be going into this season – should Al Davis play his cards correctly – as a clear case of addition by subtraction.

The earliest possible stab at the Oakland draft class of '09 might guess the silver and black to be welcoming in a young offensive lineman (either Eugene Monroe or Duke Robinson might fit), tight end (maybe Chase Coffman out of the University of Missouri), and/or cornerback, though it’s slightly incomprehensible that not one of these positions would be filled with a high-tier free agent signing.

With scads of secondary coming onto the market in 2009 – by this writer’s count, some 87 safeties and cornerbacks are thus far unsigned for next year. Just to throw out a name here: How does a five-year offer to Dawan Landry sound? Of course, the Raiders could just make a pitch at Asomugha again and ... what? No way? All right, then.

The positives here are apparent: While losing little off the top of the depth chart – assuming Lechler stays on, perhaps only Asomugha and Carlisle will depart as starters – Oakland will have a chance to actually address some of the issues that have been dogging the squad since Rich Gannon departed (offensive line, for instance). Though that traffic jam of subpar WRs ain’t going anywhere yet ...

2010: DL Derrick Burgess, OT Cornell Green, C Jake Grove, FB Justin Griffith, CB DeAngelo Hall, LB Thomas Howard, WR Jonathan Holland, K Sebastian Janikowski, RB LaMont Jordan, OL Paul McQuistan, LB Kirk Morrison, CB Stanford Routt, LB Robert Thomas, C Adam Treu, QB Andrew Walter, CB Fabian Washington.

First thought here is an obvious one: The Raiders better have a linebacking corps in place by 2010, ‘cause this free agent market – particularly heading into apocalyptic 2011 – as it stands will shred this defense. Morrison’s probably already wondering what it’s going to be like to wear the “franchise player” tag, while any defensive contributor in 2009 will be licking chops to get to the negotiating table the minute Super Bowl XLIV is over.

On the other hand, by this time the JaMarcus Russell-Darren McFadden Raiders could be among the highest-scoring teams in the NFL. If Javon Walker actually manages to get his head (and hands) straight, the Oakland faithful could be treated to a heart-attack-inducing slate of games weekly ending in scores of 40-38. Slightly more soberly speaking, Davis & Co. are certainly already thinking about that long list of cornerbacks in 2009 in light of this list.

And could this really be the end of the Janikowski era in Oakland? No way.

2011: CB John Bowie, RB Michael Bush, OG Robert Gallery, OT Mario Henderson, WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, TE Zach Miller, FB Oren O’Neal, DL Jay Richardson, DL Terdell Sands, DL Gerard Warren.

Reckon Bush’s name can be stricken right off this list: It seems inconceivable that a talented back such as Bush is going to sit on the bench, collecting dust and not bagging the trade value the Raiders so desperately need. How much is Bush worth in WR/CB/OL terms? You can bet we’ll find out long before kickoff (or lockout) 2011.

As for the rest of the list, we’ll call it “The Year the Bonus Babies Come Home to Roost.” Much of the big-money talent Oakland sought to depend on pretty much straight after draft weekend – Gallery, Henderson, Higgins, Miller – will arrive at the crossroads in this preseason; combine this list with one or two surprise low-round draft picks signed to two- and three-year deals with the Raiders, and 2011 looks like a real year of comeuppance for the Oakland brain trust.

Also fascinating.

To the future, indeed.