Teams Las Vegas Raiders - The Black Hole

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Reggie is full of it...


GM Reggie McKenzie on free agency
http://www.ibabuzz.com/oaklandraiders/2014/03/19/gm-reggie-mckenzie-on-free-agency/

By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 at 5:56 pm in Oakland Raiders.

Caught up with Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie following San Jose State’s pro day Thursday. Topics included the Raiders progress in free agency, his thoughts on the Rodger Saffold deal falling through, the departures of Jared Veldheer and Lamar Houston and the future of the quarterback position in Oakland. A transcription of McKenzie’s first interview since the start of free agency:

Q: You’ve concentrated your efforts on picking up a lot of players between 29 and 31 years old who have experience playing in big games. How would you assess how free agency has gone so far?

McKenzie: You can’t assess it until the end of the season, to be honest with you and what we’re trying to do is add some veteran leadership. Guys who have some production, and just make sure we upgrade this team. And that’s the bottom line, trying to upgrade the team through production and the leadership. We’ve got some young guys on this team and we want to try and get that good mix, try to build. Hopefully building up front will help.

Q: Do you feel you have a good head start on that process?

McKenzie: We definitely got a head start. Instead of waiting until the draft, or later in this offseason, if you have an opportunity to get a guy, try to go after him and then you’re hopeful that you can land some of these guys. Sometimes you can’t. Sometimes you can.

Q: How much of a setback was losing the Saffold deal and letting Veldheer get away? The outside perception is that t his was a big blunder for the Raiders . . .

McKenzie: No, no. That stuff happens. I’ve been in situations before where guys fail physicals. That’s the way it is. Now, we would have loved to have kept all of our guys that we lost, but it’s their decision whether to go or to stay and it was unfortunate that their decision was to leave. You have to respect that.

Q: There were reports that it was Mark Davis that pulled out of the Saffold deal . . .

McKenzie: Our medical people make that call and we go by what our medical people say. We made that decision based on that.

Q: Another term associated with that deal was `buyer’s remorse,’ that the you thought better of bringing in Saffold at that price . . .

McKenzie: Oh, no. Noooo. There’s a good reason why I really don’t spend a whole lot of time _ no disrespect _ reading a whole lot (about the Raiders). I get fed a whole lot of information about what’s going on. But I do know that we listen to our medical people and a risk is a risk, and that’s the bottom line. That’s what we go with and that’s what we go with, we make our decision that way.

Q: Andrew Brandt of ESPN, who you worked with in Green Bay, said having a player failing a physical in one place and passing it in another is really not all that unusual . . .

McKenzie: It happens all the time. We pass guys that other teams fail. It just depends on the nature of it and if their medical people see something different. Sometimes we may pass one of our own because we know all the stuff that he went through versus another team may not pass our guy. That will always happen. Always.

Q: But you had it within your grasp to keep Veldheer or Houston if you wanted to and you didn’t use the franchise tag . . .

McKenzie: No, that was not an issue there. You talk about, you can try and place a value on the franchise tag, I want to keep these guys for more than one year. I didn’t want to rent ‘em for a year. That’s not the way we do it. The key is if the players want to be here. If they don’t want to be here, we have to move on.

Q: You’ve addressed this before, but there’s the perception that Veldheer and Houston weren’t `Reggie’s guys,’ that they weren’t drafted by you . . .

McKenzie: Oh, no. That has zero to do with it. I’d love to have those guys. I don’t care who drafts them, it really doesn’t matter expect. All that matters is their production on the field, that determines whether they come or go. And those two guys, they were good, solid players for us. That’s why we wanted them to stay. But they got their opportunity and they took it.

Q: At the end of the season, you sounded a little pessimistic about McFadden returning, saying he was going to test the market _ which I guess he did _ were you pleasantly surprised he would come back?

McKenzie: We had no clue how the other teams thought. Was he going to get a long-term contract? Did he even want a long-term contract? If they were going to go after him, how were they going to go about it? What kind of contract were they going to give him? I think we were very competitive that way and it helps that he wanted to be here. That’s why he’s here.

Q: Do you think you know at this moment who your quarterback will be in 2014?

McKenzie: Do I have an idea? I have a really good idea. Do you want me to tell you?

Q: Of course . . . but you have to have to have options, because it’s got to be someone who wants to be here or can be here . . .

McKenzie: The bottom line still is the guy’s got to come I and compete, show the team, his teammates, the staff, that he can do it. There’s always going to be competition. I hope it’s strong competition. But at the end of the day, I have a good idea.

Q: Donald Penn put out on Twitter today he is a Raider _ I don’t know if Raiders have confirmed but assume you will today . . . .

McKenzie: I know as of last night and early this morning, he was going over everything with his agent. When I left it was on its way to being done. I’m sure we’re close to having everything agreed to. Hopefully it’s a done deal. Outside of I haven’t seen the signature yet, that’s the only thing I’m waiting on.

Q: How beneficial to have a guy with that kind of durability and pedigree for a guy like Menelik Watson to learn from?

McKenzie: All these guys. A guy like James Jones, we’ve got a young receiving corps. And James Jones will do wonders for that group. The O-line. We’ve got some young guys. We added some veteran guys and hopefully the right type of guys that are guys can see and learn from. That’s what it’s about. We have Wiz and Khalif, to me we needed more, and hopefully, at all those positions, our young guys can learn from the veterans that we brought in, and the veterans that have been here. They all need to jell together.

Q: That part of it gets tricky . . . the top teams view free agency to fill a couple of holes and build from within. That’s the way I assume you want to do it as well _ but you’re going to rely on a lot of new faces again . . .

McKenzie: I think it helps if you have the right type of guys. I really do. If you have the right type of guys, that type of transition won’t be as difficult as some would think.

Q: Did you hear the San Jose State fan begging you to draft David Fales?

McKenzie: Yeah, I heard that (laughs).

Q: What did you see from him today that you liked?

McKenzie: I thought he had a good day. I the quarterback coach, Terry Shea, put him through just about every possible situation, every possible throw that he would have to make and what he displayed is he can make all the throws. I thought he did a good job showing himself. A lot of scouts were here to see it. It was good for him, good for him.

Q: Is (quarterback coach and former SJSU offensive coordinator) John DeFilippo pushing you to draft him?

McKenzie: He definitely knows the guy very well. We spent time with him at the Senior Bowl and we know him pretty well. But we’ve got good handle on the kid and I just wanted to make sure I got a chance to see him in front of his own, and in his own setting.

Q: Dennis Allen has been in Louisville watching Teddy Bridgewater and in Florida watching Blake Bortles. Is Manziel next up for Allen?

McKenzie: Yeah, Manziel is next and we’ve got Carr tomorrow.

Q: Are you going to Stanford or see Carr?

McKenzie: I’ll probably go see Carr.
 
Matt Schaub
Matt McGloin
Matt Flynn
Terrelle Pryor
Carson Palmer
Kyle Boller
Bruce Gradkowski
Jason Campbell
Charlie Frye
Bruce Gradkowski
JaMarcus Russell
Daunte Culpepper
Josh McCown
Aaron Brooks
Andrew Walter
Marques Tuiasosopo
Kerry Collins
Rick Mirer
Rich Gannon
Wade Wilson
Donald Hollas
Billy Joe Hobert
Jeff George
Jeff Hostetler
Todd Marinovich
Steve Beuerlein
Jay Schroeder
Vince Evans
Marc Wilson
 
Raiders Trade for Matt Schaub

Yesterday the Oakland Raiders moved a sixth round pick to the Houston Texans to acquire the rights to QB Matt Schaub. Schaub had come under great scrutiny since the Texans signed him to an ill-advised extension worth $15.5 million a year, a number that, at the time, made him one of the two highest paid “non-Super Bowl” winners in the NFL. Schaub was coming off injury and had just one year remaining on his contract in 2012 when the Texans made the move. By the end of 2012, when team expectations were high and Schaub’s physical limitations began to be scrutinized more due to those expectations and his contract, he began to falter.

After an exit in the 2012 playoffs there were questions as to whether or not Schaub should be back in 2013, technically just the first year of his new contract. The large guarantees in his contract made that an impossibility but the talk of it seemed to rattle his confidence. Schaub had a meltdown under the pressure and went through a series of injuries and benchings during the course of the 2013 season. It was clear he needed a new home to try to resurrect his career.

For the Raiders the move is a no-brainer. They had no quarterback of note on the roster and need to turn the fortunes of the team around. Before Schaub began to get rattled in 2012 he was having a very good season and had always been careful with the football. As long as his confidence returns at worst the Raiders get a professional behind center.

The contract itself is one that the Raiders should not touch to give him added “job security” or anything else they feel may help him with his confidence. The Raiders have a high draft pick and should not look at the addition of Schaub as a reason to not use it on a prospect, so keeping outs in his contract would be a smart decision. Schaub will be 33 this season and while that is young enough to get two years out of him I would not call it likely to expect much more than that, at least at a relatively high level of football. The Raiders also need to plan for the fact that Schaub could also be finished.

Because no prorated money enters the equation in a trade the contract itself works out perfect for the Raiders current contract format of no signing bonus money and instead the use of base salaries and incentivized roster bonuses. Schaub will only cost the Raiders a maximum of $11 million this season in cash and salary cap, which is the second lowest paid veteran “starter” QB in the NFL behind Alex Smith of the Chiefs. If you look at this as a two year contract with an annual value of $12.25 million it ranks as 4th lowest among veteran starters. So the contract is not as bad from the Raiders perspective as some are making it out to be.

The decision will bring more scrutiny to GM Reggie McKenzie’s handling of the Carson Palmer situation in 2013. McKenzie wanted Palmer to take a paycut of $3 million in 2013 which Palmer refused to do because of how he felt he was being treated in Oakland. McKenzie traded Palmer and a 7th rounder to the Arizona Cardinals for a 6th rounder and a conditional draft pick in 2014. The Raiders would then send a 5th in 2014 to the Seahawks for Matt Flynn, who was an epic disaster and released in October. McKenzie restructured Flynn’s contract for both cap relief and the ability to give him that “job security” adding more dollars to the picture that the Raiders had to account for when Flynn was released.

Palmer ended up reducing his salary in 2013 and 2014 with the Cardinals from $27 million to $16 million with a chance to earn $4 million in incentives and escalators. The guarantees were just $10 million. Schaub is essentially a lateral move from Palmer putting the Raiders right back to where they were in 2012. All told the Raiders will spend, assuming Schaub does not take a paycut, $26.84 million in salary cap charges in 2013 and 2014 for Palmer, Flynn, and now Schaub. The Cardinals spent $16 on Palmer over the same time period.

The Raiders are probably the best example in the NFL of the desperate levels that teams will go to try to fix the QB position. In the last three years the Raiders have sent draft picks to other teams for the services of Jason Campbell(4th in 2012), Carson Palmer(1st in 2012 and 2nd in 2013), Matt Flynn (5th in 2014) and now Matt Schaub(6th in 2014). The first three QB’s started a total of 43 games in four seasons going 19-24. Over that same time frame the Raiders have also drafted Terrelle Pryor (supplemental that cost a 3rd in 2012) and Tyler Wilson (4th in 2013). Pryor started 10 games in 3 years while Wilson was released in 2013. When you combine all the picks(1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th) the Raiders have essentially given up an entire draft for the position. That’s quite the waste of resources.

For McKenzie he needs Schaub to work out our this will likely be the end of his run in Oakland, where he oversaw the salary cap teardown of the team and had little success on the field while struggled with the mistakes of the organization before him. The Raiders have spent approximately $47 million in cap space this season, mainly on veterans likely leaving their primes than entering it, which means the improvement needs to come quickly. They still maintain cap flexibility as almost every contract has a one year escape window, but he wont be in Oakland if they have to pull that switch in 2015.
 
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Dislike it when people use the "didn't have a proper draft yet" as in not a proper set of draft picks. We had like 10 picks last year, regardless that Reggie had to trade back a few times to gain a few extra picks. Since when is that not a "proper" draft? Too much excuse-making. Even 2012 more could've been done. Could've found someONE, an impact/core player.
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Exactly. 16 picks in two seasons and his success rate is 18%, and that number is arguable if you don't buy into Rivera or Sio or McGee. Just not even close to good enough.
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He will seal his fate this draft.
 

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I don't think the Raiders are rating this years QB class whatsoever (it will look terribly conflicting if they actually take a QB in this seasons draft). That's how I see it. Getting an exp QB with a 6th round pick is as good as it gets. Personally, I wouldn't of traded for Schaub. The texans simply upgraded their QB situation and added another round 6 pick. It'll be funny if the Texans pick a player with that Raiders pick who ends up playing 10 years!!
 
Schaub for a 6 rounder. Wikipedia has him born in 1944!. I watched that last pick 6 game he had. I guess everyone has a bad day.

We have no 5th or 6th pick in a strong draft.
Now you do..

1947744_752080024817113_1356275425_n_zps38cf55da.jpg
 
Thought I would give my fellow Raiders in here a chance during the Mock draft to add comment to upcoming selections. We got Watkins in the first, and given who has gone and relative needs vs BPA I am leaning towards DE where I like Scott Crichton or OLB Kyle Van Noy. I would like to have gone DT probably, but I don't think any are leaping out at me for this pick.

Oh, and just say no to Carr!
 
Thought I would give my fellow Raiders in here a chance during the Mock draft to add comment to upcoming selections. We got Watkins in the first, and given who has gone and relative needs vs BPA I am leaning towards DE where I like Scott Crichton or OLB Kyle Van Noy. I would like to have gone DT probably, but I don't think any are leaping out at me for this pick.

Oh, and just say no to Carr!

Kareem Martin.
 
Kareem Martin.
COMPARES TO: Justin Tuck, New York Giants -The team that selects Martin hopes the UNC standout will show the same dedication towards improvement that Tuck has since earning a third round pick out of Notre Dame in 2005. Tuck has developed into a fine pass rusher for the Giants but his game remains reliant on his length and strength at the point of attack.
 

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