The Oakland Raiders made a concerted effort to re-sign as many
of their prospective free agents as possible before the lockout.
Three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was not among those
signed or offered contracts. New coach Hue Jackson said Thursday in
a predraft news conference that he isn’t ruling out bringing back
Asomugha for a ninth season with the Raiders. However, he also
seemed resigned to the prospect of moving forward without
Asomugha.
ALAMEDA
The Oakland Raiders made a concerted effort to re-sign as many of their prospective free agents as possible before the lockout. Three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was not among those signed or offered contracts.
New coach Hue Jackson said Thursday in a predraft news conference that he isn’t ruling out bringing back Asomugha for a ninth season with the Raiders. However, he also seemed resigned to the prospect of moving forward without Asomugha.
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“We have some very talented players that also play that position,” Jackson said. “We drafted some guys a year ago that need to step up and play. So, if we’re not able to put that young man back on our team, hopefully we’ve done a good job and done our homework a year ago with the players we put on our team. It’s time for them to step up and be players.”
The Raiders re-signed cornerback Stanford Routt to a three-year contract worth more than $10 million per season. Veteran Chris Johnson and second-year players Jeremy Ware and Walter McFadden are candidates to replace Asomugha if he isn’t re-signed.
n The Raiders begin this season with back-to-back road games, followed by home games against the New York Jets and New England Patriots. Bring it on, Jackson said.
“I love it,” Jackson said. “Are you kidding me? Does it get any better than that? ‘Monday Night Football’ in Denver. One of our division teams. €¦ You guys scared? I’m not. We’re very excited about our schedule.”
In the past, the Raiders complained about the schedule, for one reason or other. In 2005, managing general partner Al Davis voiced his displeasure over the Raiders opening the season against the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots on the road.
Jackson said good teams welcome the challenge.
“If we’re going to be the type of team I keep telling (everybody) we’re going to be, that’s who we want to play and we want it like that,” Jackson said. “I’m not going to shy away from the schedule.”
—Jackson said he isn’t pleased by the offseason arrests of running back Michael Bush, wide receiver Louis Murphy and offensive tackle Mario Henderson.
“I’m very disappointed about it,” Jackson said. “It’s not very Raider-like, but, obviously, there’s nothing I can do about it. The rules won’t let me talk to those particular players or anything. But I am disappointed. I’m sure when we’re allowed to address it, we will.”
—The Raiders are without a top-eight draft pick for only the second time since 2003. They held the No. 17 spot in this year’s draft but traded that pick to the Patriots for defensive tackle Richard Seymour just before the 2009 season. The Raiders sent the No. 7 pick in 2005 to the Minnesota Vikings in the Randy Moss trade.
Oakland’s first pick this year is No. 48 overall.
“Hopefully, we’ll be drafting way late next year because we’ll have (had) a great year (this season),” Jackson said.
—Contrary to popular belief, Jackson said, there is more than one voice when it comes to the Raiders draft process. It just so happens that Davis’ voice is the one that matters most.
“A lot of people think it’s a one-man show,” Jackson said. “He makes the pick, and he should. He’s the owner of the team. But the bottom line is, he takes a lot of information from us all. And he does take that information in, and he makes a very calculated decision based on what we say and what we think.”
— Story by Steve Corkran, Contra Costa Times
