Mackey walked into my new office, inside McAfee Coliseum. I had my head buried into the current Raiders roster.
“Hey, Bear. How’s it going?”
I looked up from my papers and smiled. “Just going over the team roster, as it currently stands.”
“Thoughts on it?”
I thought for a moment. “Well, if we want this team to be our own, there are going to have to be some changes. But, with that in mind, we may have to start making the changes slowly, because too much in too short of a time, and we are going to be in some trouble on the field and with the fans.
Mackey laughed. “Don’t worry about it. We need to remember our main goals here. We want to be able to move this team, so some upset fans work in our favor. We also want this team to be our own, so changes are a necessary part of that.”
Mackey sat down in a chair opposite my desk.
Let’s go over this roster and see what we have.
Code:
Oakland Raiders Roster, Scout Overview
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Collins, Kerry 5 QB QB 11 48 51 2 yrs
Tuiasosopo, Marques 8 QB 5 15 34 2 yrs
Walter, Andrew 16 QB 1 14 51 3 yrs
I frowned as I looked over our QB situation. “I am not a fan of Collins at all. He can throw the deep ball, but I just do not see him as a franchise quarterback due to his physical skills. The guys is smart, though, and is also a fan favorite, so we may need to hold onto him for a bit. Tuiasosopo is nothing great, but I like the looks of the Walter kid. He may be a decent player, so I will be interested in seeing how he develops.”
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Jordan, LaMont 34 RB RB 5 50 53 5 yrs
Fargas, Justin 20 RB 3 32 38 3 yrs
Crockett, Zack 32 RB 11 29 29 5 yrs
Henry, Leonard 28 RB 4 26 31 1 yr.
Easy, Omar 43 FB FB 4 22 34 1 yr.
Foschi, John Paul 49 FB 1 14 24 2 yrs
“Lamont Jordan could be good for us, and I don’t mind the guy. He has already taken a leadership role on the team, and he just got here. Not bad. Fargas is a serviceable backup, but Crockett and Henry are not great. I think we should cut one of them. And I do not like our fullbacks at all. They cannot block, and if they cannot block, then they are worthless to me.”
Mackey nodded. “Yah, that is something we should look at remedying soon.”
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Anderson, Courtney 83 TE TE 2 40 64 3 yrs
Dudley, Rickey 88 TE 10 37 37 1 yr.
Flemister, Zeron 80 TE 6 30 31 1 yr.
Moss, Randy 18 FL FL 8 89 90 4 yrs
Curry, Ronald 81 FL 4 35 51 3 yrs
Francis, Carlos 10 FL 2 22 34 2 yrs
Morant, Johnnie 19 FL 2 13 21 3 yrs
Porter, Jerry 84 SE SE 6 71 71 5 yrs
Gabriel, Doug 85 SE 3 40 48 2 yrs
Whitted, Alvis 87 SE 8 33 33 2 yrs
Williams, Randal 89 SE 5 24 35 1 yr.
I smiled as I looked at the TE situation. “I like Courtney Anderson a lot. He is pretty well-rounded, and looks like he is developing some good blocking skills. Seems like he has a good head on his shoulders, so I think he is a keeper. I am not overly happy with our backups here, though, as they cannot block.”
Mackey nodded again. “We should have some time to get some depth, so no worries there. Now, what do you think of our wideouts?” Mackey smirked, knowing what my first answer would be.
“Randy Moss. Arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL, a fan favorite, and brand new here to the Raider Nation. The fans are looking to him as a savior. Me, I hate him. Always have. He is our best trade bait, and I think he has to go.”
“I thought you would say that! I agree, though.” Mackey laughed.
“Other than Moss, I think we have some guys that we should cut from this part of the roster, but I like Porter, Curry, and Gabriel. I think we have something we can work with here.”
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Treu, Adam 62 C C 9 57 60 5 yrs
Grove, Jake 64 C 2 33 57 3 yrs
Walker, Langston 66 LG 4 21 33 3 yrs
Hulsey, Corey 71 LG 5 13 18 1 yr.
Stone, Ron 67 RG LG 13 58 58 5 yrs
Badger, Brad 70 RG RG 9 43 43 4 yrs
Gallery, Robert 76 LT LT 2 52 89 5 yrs
Slaughter, Chad 78 LT 5 19 32 1 yr.
Sims, Barry 65 RT RT 7 32 40 5 yrs
Lekerkerker, Brad 60 RT 1 2 17 2 yrs
“Our offensive line is alright, mainly at center, right guard, and left tackle. We are hurting at left guard and right tackle, though. As for the personalities here, they seem to be alright. No one instantly pissing me off, so we should just work with our strengths and fix our weaknesses here.”
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Lechler, Shane 9 P 6 63 67 4 yrs
Janikowski, Sebastian 11 K 6 70 74 5 yrs
I grimaced as we looked at the kickers. “Lechler, I can work with. Janikowski, in my opinion, is a cancer and needs to go. As soon as possible.” Mackey nodded his agreement.
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Hamilton, Bobby 98 LDE LDE 10 45 48 4 yrs
Gbaja-Biamila, Akbar 94 LDE 4 16 28 1 yr.
Burgess, Derrick 58 RDE RDE 5 49 62 5 yrs
Kelly, Tommy 93 RDE 2 23 37 1 yr.
Washington, Ted 92 LDT NT 15 49 54 4 yrs
Jasper, Edward 95 LDT 9 38 40 1 yr.
Sapp, Warren 99 RDT 11 50 50 6 yrs
Sands, Terdell 90 RDT 3 23 36 1 yr.
Hawthorne, Anttaj 77 RDT 1 13 34 3 yrs
Smith, Kenny 97 RDT 5 10 16 1 yr.
“We have some decent starters along the line, but depth is a major problem here. We also have too many defensive tackles, so some cuts will need to be made. Burgess and Jasper have had some words here and there, so we may need to watch that. And Warren Sapp is another guy who is more often more trouble than he is worth, so I think we should get rid of him.”
Mackey looked at me with a smile. “The fans are really going to get mad at us.”
“Well, that is the price we pay, wanting to move the team and get our type of players in.”
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Clark, Danny 55 MLB SILB 6 60 60 2 yrs
Foreman, Jay 53 MLB WILB 7 35 37 1 yr.
Morrison, Kirk 52 MLB 1 21 33 4 yrs
Johnson, Tim 51 MLB 4 16 26 1 yr.
Tuitele, Maugaula 50 MLB 3 13 30 1 yr.
Williams, Sam 54 SLB SLB 3 29 55 3 yrs
Brayton, Tyler 91 SLB 3 28 50 2 yrs
Grant, DeLawrence 59 WLB WLB 5 30 48 1 yr.
Irons, Grant 96 WLB 4 20 33 1 yr.
“We have too many middle linebackers, even with the 3-4 defense that our coaches like. And that said, I don’t think the majority of our MLB’s could even be effective in that defense. Some cuts will be coming. The outside linebackers are not great, but serviceable. We will need to upgrade here.”
Code:
Player # Pos Start Exp Current Estimate Future Estimate Cntrct
Woodson, Charles 24 LCB LCB 8 45 52 1 yr.
Walker, Denard 25 LCB 9 35 35 4 yrs
Routt, Stanford 26 LCB 1 14 34 4 yrs
Hill, Renaldo 22 RCB 5 28 42 1 yr.
Asomugha, Nnamdi 21 RCB RCB 3 26 54 2 yrs
Washington, Fabian 27 RCB 1 22 55 4 yrs
Gibson, Derrick 36 SS SS 5 40 50 1 yr.
Schweigert, Stuart 30 FS FS 2 28 47 3 yrs
Cooper, Jarrod 40 FS 5 14 27 1 yr.
I rubbed my face as I looked at our secondary. “We have a few problems here. We have no one that can play on the right corner and actually be of any use to us. Also, our free safety situation is grim. But the main issue is Charles Woodson. Granted, he is a good corner, but I don’t think he is very good for the locker room, and he is definitely not one of ‘Our’ guys. Worst yet, he is making $10.5 million this year in the last year of his contract. I am thinking that we should resign him, then trade him and take the cap hit for the signing bonus.”
Mackey thought for a moment. “Yah, I agree. Let’s do that.”
Code:
Players Under Contract: 60
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 60
Salary Cap: $85,500,000
Cap Room: $13,010,000
Maximum for New Player: $13,390,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $77,920,000
“Ok, it looks like we have the start of a plan here. Now it is up to you, Bear, to start working those phones and make some deals!” Mackey winked.
I rubbed my forehead. “It is going to be a long week, isn’t it?”
Mackey smiled. “Ah, you will do fine. So, thoughts on our current staff?”
“Eric Washington is our Lead Scout. He is 61 years old, and not that good of a scout anymore. I think it is high priority to find someone else next year.”
Mackey frowned a bit. “Too bad. I talked with him a bit before. Nice guy. Likes fishing. Oh well, we need to do what is best for the team, right?”
I just nodded and moved on. “Our Head Coach, Jorge Shank, seems to be a decent coach. I think we can wait to see what he can do with the players we give him before making a decision on him. Aaron Ellis, our Offensive Coordinator, seems to be pretty good at dealing with the young guys, but other than that, he is nothing special. We may need a new guy next year. And lastly, we have Louie Sutter, our Defensive Coordinator. He should go next year. No ifs, ands, or buts.”
I pushed the papers away and looked at Mackey. “That is about it, boss.”
Mackey stood up. “Sounds good, Bear. Well, get working on the phones, and we will see how badly the fans react to this.”
Mackey walked out of my office. I took a deep breath, realizing that this was all really happening, and picked up the phone.