Newsgroup: it.sport.americani
Titolo: Per Marco e gli altri: Raiders report

Ho scovato questo report che forse vi può interessare, datato 11
marzo.
Throughout the history of the franchise, the Oakland Raiders have been
known for intelligent and cost effective player transactions. From the
draft to free agency the team usually does pretty well. However, one
facet of this has not been all that productive for the Raiders in
recent years and that is free agency. Over the last five years, the
Raiders have signed more high priced players that soon became waiver
material than any other team in the NFL. The list is long and we’ve
all heard the names before; QB Jeff George, CB Larry Brown and KR/PR
Desmond Howard come to mind. All three players proved to be
inconsistent and very pricey for their performances and were
subsequently released within three years of signing their huge initial
contracts. 
This all seemed to change with the arrival of the NFL’s youngest but
seemingly most powerful head coach, Jon Gruden. Gruden has taken total
control of this team and in 1999 he made many low cost quality
additions that were very productive both on and off the field. Three
names that come to mind are RB Tyrone Wheatley, QB Rich Gannon and
Darrien Gordon, all of whom are still with the team today. All three
players were instrumental in the development of the team and will be
once again in 2000 and beyond. 
Coach Gruden seems to be heading on the same path in 2000 as he has
dedicated himself to “filling the needs”. The major needs for the team
heading into this off season were to re-sign all of their big name
players who were headed to free agency, a #2 WR, a strong side LB, a
DE to play across from Lance Johnstone and some youth in the
secondary.
The team’s first free agent pick-up in 2000 was veteran QB Craig
Whelihan, most recently with the San Diego Chargers. Whelihan had
reportedly impressed coach Gruden with his arm strength and mobility
but his inconsistency and his tendency to throw interceptions will
make it hard for him to make the team. He will fight with Scott
Driesbach for the team’s #3 QB spot. Next the team signed a group of
street free agents, most of whom were on the team’s practice squad and
became free agents at the end of the season. This group included DE
Ralph Hughes, WR Gerald Williams, WR Rico Cannon, DB Donnell Day OT
Jeremy Akers and LB Jimmy Clements.
Then came the all important salary compliance day on February 10th.
This was the day on which all teams needed to get at or under the
salary cap and also signified the beginning of free agency. The
Raiders released veteran LB Richard Harvey, SS Anthony Newman, CB
Darrien Gordon and TE Derrick Walker to get in compliance with the
league mandated salary cap. All of these players had significant roles
with the team in 1999 but their salaries were too high for their
production so they were caught in the cap crunch.
The team was then ready to begin their free agent signing period.
Unlike so many other teams, the Raiders decided not to plunge in and
pay top dollar for high profile players and instead pulled a major
coup in the re-signing of all of their own key free agents. Such big
name players as Tim Brown, Greg Biekert, Bobby Hoying and Steve
Wisniewski were all slated to become free agents when the team
re-signed them in what seemed like one fell swoop. The Tim Brown
situation was very public and very loud but it ended the way that
everyone knew it would, Brown re-worked his contract and it now seems
as though he will retire a Raider. Biekert was also upset with the way
his contract negotiations were going. However he was signed to a brand
new, very lucrative deal, and will continue to be the team’s defensive
captain for the foreseeable future. Hoying and Wisniewski were also
convinced to stick around for a while as Hoying was signed to a
three-year deal and Wisniewski was talked out of voiding his contract
and retiring.
The Raiders then began to look into the free agent pool for ways to
improve their team. They were slow getting started signing only a few
“street” free agents here and there. Among those players were WR Creig
Spann, DE Nick Matrucci, DB Sean Woodson and WR Corey Flemming, all of
whom are young players with raw skills that could come into training
camp and make an impact with the right coaching and preparation. The
team also re-signed two more of their own free agents, WR Rodney
Williams and OL Darryl Ashmore. Ashmore proved his worth last season
as a quality back up on the offensive line where injuries can
devastate a team. Williams was inactive for most of the 1999 season
and still has major upside if he can get his head in the game more and
eliminate mental errors.
Things started to pick-up around Alameda near mid-February as the team
began to have some big name players in for workouts. WRs Curtis Conway
and Derrick Mayes as well as DBs Anthony Dorsett and Reggie Tongue all
came to Oakland but left the same way they came, without a contract.
These players were all extremely talented but were looking for deals
worth more than what the Raiders were willing to pay. Other teams
signed them all shortly thereafter, with the exception of Dorsett. 
The Raiders decided they weren’t interested in paying big money for
top tier players but instead they began looking for second tier
players who could come in and become top tier players in the near
future at the “need positions”. DBs who fit this mould were Je’Rod
Cherry (Saints), Tory James (Broncos) and Darrien Gordon (Raiders) all
of whom were signed by the Raiders. With these signings the team has
almost guaranteed that they will have quality DBs on the field no
matter what injuries should occur during the season. Two WRs who fit
in with the team are Larry Shannon (Dolphins) and David Dunn (Browns).
Both are tall, fast receivers who have shown flashes of their
abilities and could blossom under the tutelage of Jon Gruden and the
Raiders’ coaching staff. Another impressive pick-up for the team was
the signing of DE Regan Upshaw. Upshaw, a Bay Area native, has signed
a one-year deal with the team for the veteran minimum salary of
$440,000. Defensive line coach Mike Waufle calls Upshaw’s signing a
steal and feels that Upshaw is the perfect compliment to incumbents
Lance Johnstone and Tony Bryant at DE.
All in all February has been much more exciting in Oakland than most
thought it would be. There were no outside big names added to the team
but anyone who knows anything about football knows that quality second
tier players such as Tory James and Regan Upshaw can really strengthen
an already powerful team. Add this to the re-signing of most of their
own free agents and you have a team sitting in a very comfortable
position heading into the second month of free agency and the draft.
The team addressed many of their “need positions” but make no mistake,
there is room under the cap and the team could make a few more key
additions before the draft. 
Charlie Brown ;-)
G O   D O L P H I N S ! ! !
mail to: 
chNOS...@excite.com
better remove NOSPAM when replying....

 additions before the draft. 
Eccolo, si č scoperto STEVE SMITH (cosě lo scrive, no?).
^______________^
Al prossimo Meeting propongo di lapidarlo.
Christian

grazie Charlie, io e Giorgio stiamo pregando in religioso silenzio sulla
stagione 2000... :-)))
Marco

Marco
John Gruden..................ora pro nobis
Tim Brown....................ora pro nobis
Charles Woodson..........ora pro nobis
marchetto io sono arrivato a 12000 rosari, dici che sono sufficienti?
;-P
Ciao
Giorgio
GO RAIDERS (prossimi detentori dell'AFC West)

Christian
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
