Raiders Might Consider Long shot
By Jerry McDonald, STAFF WRITER
Article Created: 02/24/2008 02:35:51 AM PST
Virginia defensive end seen as an inspiring force
INDIANAPOLIS — Chris Long remembers lying on the floor of his parents’ car, trying to be invisible so Al Davis wouldn’t see he was trying to sneak into practice.
“Don’t tell Al Davis that happened,” Long said Saturday at the NFL combine, fully cognizant of the fact that Davis and everyone else knows exactly who he is.
Many people believe Long, a defensive end out of Virginia, will be gone before the Raiders select at No.4 in the NFL draft in New York on April 26. Miami, St. Louis and Atlanta draft before Oakland, and a case could be made for any of those teams to select the son of Raiders Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long.
If Long were to fall to No.4, at least one NFL general manager who declined to be named thinks the Raiders would jump at the chance to make him a legacy.
“I think the Raiders will end up with either Glenn Dorsey, Chris Long or Sedrick Ellis — and they would be happy with any one of them,” he said.
When it comes to the draft, Oakland’s reputation for unpredictability has more to do with their assessment of players than it does with selection philosophy. Their premium picks in recent years have fallen in line with perceived needs.
With the retirement of Warren Sapp, a mediocre pass rush and an inability to stop the run, the Raiders’ primary need is a galvanizing, energizing force on defense. Long, Dorsey and Ellis are all advertised as being snap-to-whistle players on every down.
“They’re all high-effort players — winning is important to them,” Rams vice president of player personnel Billy Devaney said. “They’re not in it for the flash. Being good football players and working hard is really what drives them.”
If there is a glitch where Long is concerned, it is that his strength in college was as an end in a 3-4 defense, while the Raiders have played almost exclusively 4-3 in recent years. Long is listed at 6-foot-4, 275 pounds, but at first glance doesn’t appear to be as imposing in stature as his father.
As a senior, Long was credited with 14 sacks, 23 pressures, nine pass breakups and twice forced fumbles that resulted in Virginia scores.
“I don’t think of myself as doing anything extraordinary with my effort,” Long said. “I think that’s just the way football is supposed to be played, at a high speed. I’m not a guy who does things half-speed well. It’s been pretty natural for me to go that fast.”
As a youth, Long sneaked into a Raiders practice session by hiding in the family car.
“No families were allowed in,” Long said. “There were rules. It was a no-visitation time.”
He said he later met Davis, but hasn’t talked to the man since he was a kid. He sounded ambivalent about the prospect of following in his father’s footsteps.
“It would mean the same as playing anywhere else, honestly,” Long said. “It would be an opportunity to play in the NFL. Obviously there is so much to it there. I’m not afraid of any situation or any burden with the name. I’ve been dealing with it my whole life. Obviously it would be taken to a new level in a place like that. It’s pressure, but I tend to welcome pressure with open arms.”
Both Ellis (6-1, 305) and Dorsey (6-2, 316) would fit nicely into the three-gap tackle position vacated by Sapp. Oakland’s coaching staff got a close look at Ellis while coaching him at the Senior Bowl.
“He made some plays for us,” Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said.
Ellis had 8.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for USC and was named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year.
He sees his height as an advantage rather than a detriment.
“A lot of people like taller tackles, but I think my height is just great,” Ellis said. “You can get these 6-5 linemen, and I can get underneath them and uproot them out of what they’re trying to do. Great footwork, great hands and the leverage I think works to my advantage.”
Devaney, whose Rams’ select No.2, will look closely at Dorsey if he is available.
“I love Dorsey as a player,” Devaney said. “I think he’s an impact guy, an every-down guy, first, second and third. He elevates people around them, makes them better.”
Long has Strong Family Ties to the Raiders.
Steve Megargee
February 23, 2008
Rivals.com NFL Draft Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS – Virginia defensive end Chris Long still remembers the first time he saw Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis.
The moment was too frightening to forget.
“I was ducking in the car when I came to visit my dad at training camp because there were no families allowed,” he said. “That was my earliest memory.”
Long could find himself meeting Davis quite a bit more often in the near future, and the prospect of a reunion doesn’t scare him nearly as much as that initial encounter.
The Raiders have the fourth pick in April’s NFL Draft and could use it to select Long in the unlikely event he slips that far. Frank Coyle of draftinsiders.com currently has the Miami Dolphins taking Long with the first selection.
If the Raiders take Long, it certainly would create plenty of publicity for a downtrodden franchise. Long is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Howie Long, who was selected to eight Pro Bowls while playing defensive end for the Raiders from 1981-93.
Long said he wouldn’t mind the pressure that would come from playing for his dad’s old team.
“Honestly, it would just be an opportunity to play in the NFL,” he said. “Obviously there’s so much more to it there, but I’m not afraid of any situation or any burden with the name or anything. I’ve been dealing with this stuff. Obviously, it would be taken to another level at a place like that.”
Of course, there would have to be at least a little bit of fear factor involved in playing for the Raiders. That much was evident after Long finished discussing his account of that childhood incident with Davis.
“Don’t tell Al Davis that happened,” Long said.
Raiders place exclusive tag on Asomugha
David White, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
(02-20) 15:47 PST — The Raiders have used the exclusive franchise tag on star cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha to lock him in for the 2008 season, a team source confirmed Wednesday.
Asomugha, who emerged as a franchise star the past two seasons, will earn $9.465 million for the 2008 season, the average salary of the top-five cornerbacks in the NFL. He could earn more if the average is higher at the end of the restricted free agency period.
By using the exclusive franchise tag, the Raiders retained exclusive negotiating rights to Asomugha, which means no other clubs can negotiate with him for another year. Thursday is the NFL deadline for designating franchise-tag players before they hit the market as unrestricted free agents Feb. 29.
His one-year tender is the highest among nine players who have been tagged this offseason, with Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen ranking second at $8.8 million.
The Raiders hoped to sign Asomugha to a long-term deal but the talks never really progressed. July 15 is the deadline to sign a long-term deal before next season.
The franchise tag comes no surprise to Asomugha, who during this past season said he expected as much after a breakthrough Pro Bowl year in 2006. He’s the first player franchise-tagged by the Raiders since cornerback Charles Woodson in 2004 and 2005.
Asomugha had eight interceptions in 2006 after getting none in his first three seasons. He had one interception last year as teams avoided throwing toward him on the right side.
The exclusive part of the franchise tag guarantees Asomugha will return to Oakland for a sixth season. If the Raiders had used the non-exclusive franchise tag, Asomugha could have negotiated with other teams as a free agent. The Raiders still could have matched any offer sheet tendered to Asomugha or chosen to receive two first-round draft picks in return.
Drafted out of Cal in the first round of the 2003 draft, Asomugha was due to make $820,000 next season but opted out of the final year of his rookie contract. Last year, cornerback Nate Clements nabbed a seven-year, $64 million from the 49ers, giving Asomugha an idea what he could make on the open market.
Now, before Asomugha considers a long-term deal, he’ll get to see what Patriots free agent Asante Samuel – this year’s top available cornerback – demands when free agency begins.
Washington arrested
Raiders cornerback Fabian Washington was arrested on a domestic battery charge Tuesday night in East Manatee, Fla., according to the Herald Tribune.
According to the police report, Washington – the team’s first-round draft pick in 2005 out of Nebraska – was accused of grabbing his live-in girlfriend from behind during a dispute at their home. A sheriff’s deputy reported seeing “slight red marks” on the victim’s neck.
They were arguing about Washington “hanging out with other girls,” according to the report. Washington was released Wednesday on $2,000 bond. He did not return a message left on his phone.
Washington was a fulltime starter in 2006 but lost his starting job to Stanford Routt during last season. He has five career interceptions.
Franchise players
These players have had the franchise tag put on them by their teams this offseason:
| Pos | Player | Team | Salary |
| CB | Nnamdi Asomugha | Raiders | $9.465 million |
| DE | Jared Allen | Chiefs | $8.8 million |
| LB | Karlos Dansby | Cardinals | $8 million |
| DE | Terrell Suggs | Ravens | $8 million |
| OT | Stacy Andrews | Bengals | $7.5 million |
| RT | Jordan Gross | Panthers | $7.5 million |
| DT | Albert Haynesworth | Titans | $7.25 million |
| TE | Dallas Clark | Colts | $4.5 million |
| TE | L.J. Smith | Eagles | $4.5 million |
Raiders Re-sign Fargas
By Jason Jones
Published 12:00 am PST Thursday, February 14, 2008
He gets a three-year deal that could be worth $14 million.
Justin Fargas grew up a Raiders fan and loves playing professional football on the West Coast.
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin sees Fargas as the kind of player needed in what has been a fractured locker room in years past.
So there was no need for Fargas to see if he’d like to play anywhere else.
Fargas re-signed with the Raiders Wednesday, opting not to test the free-agent market Feb. 29.
He agreed to a three-year deal worth $12 million with $6 million guaranteed. Incentives could make the pact worth $14 million. Fargas was a third-round draft choice of the Raiders in 2003 and spent his first four seasons primarily as a backup tailback and special-teams player.
But Fargas became the centerpiece of the NFL’s No. 6 rushing attack in his fifth season.
He took over for a struggling LaMont Jordan in Week 9 and finished with 1,009 yards and four touchdowns. Fargas started seven games before leaving the Raiders’ Week 15 loss to Indianapolis with a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee which ended his season.
Before becoming a starter, Fargas proved to be a good fit in Kiffin’s offense. He ran for a career-high 179 yards against the Dolphins in Miami when he filled in for an injured Jordan.
Fargas earned playing time by being decisive in his running and being a good pass blocker, an area in which Jordan struggled.
For the first time as a pro, Fargas enters the season as the presumed starter. The signing also ends the likelihood the Raiders would use their first-round draft pick on Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.
Fargas’ backup going into the season remains unsettled. Dominic Rhodes was signed last year but played sparingly and is due $3 million in salary. Jordan asked to be released after being benched and is due $4.7 million. One or both could be cut to save salary cap space. There’s also Michael Bush, a fourth-round draft choice last season who didn’t play while rehabilitating from a broken leg suffered while playing college football for Louisville in 2006.
Fargas Could Test Waters
Oakland running back Justin Fargas should be popular on the free-agent market. He finished the season strong and will get a lot of looks.
Fargas is interested in remaining in Oakland, but will go to the open market, if necessary.
Fargas could be a fit in Denver, since the Raiders employed the zone-blocking scheme Denver popularized. But the Broncos aren’t likely to spend big money on a running back, especially if they agree with Travis Henry on a restructured contract.
