With this coming week's final OTA, the Raiders 2009 offseason will have concluded. We then have a lull in football activity as we await the start of the 2009 season with the Raiders reporting to the training camp complex in Napa at the end of July. The only news that we can really expect is the July signings of their 2009 draft class. All the draftees are expected to be inked and in camp by the reporting date as is typical for the Raiders, with the exception of 2007 with the a-typical Jamarcus Russell signing.

The 2009 Raiders offseason was very active with players added, subtracted, re-signed and drafted. In addition the the players, the coaching staff saw a major turnover, as the Raiders will attempt to rise out of the 6 year pattern of losing and try to  get on the winning path. Part of that offseason turnover and different from previous years, is that the Raiders did not go out and just throw big money at players and hope that they would work out because they were being paid so much. Now they went with a more intangible trait with their offseason selections - character and that is something that this young rebuilding teams needs.

The 2009 offseason recap:

Players Subtracted:

• Rashad Baker - Safety
• Drew Carter - Wide Receiver
• Ronald Curry - Wide Receiver
• Kalimba Edwards - Defensive End
• Justin Griffith - Fullback
• Jake Grove - Center
• Kwame Harris - Offensive Tackle
• Ashley Lelie - Wide Receiver
• Seth Wand - Offensive Tackle
• Gibril Wilson - Strong Safety

Players Kept (re-signed):

• Nnamdi Asomugha - Cornerback
• Rickey Brown - Linebacker
• Cooper Carlisle - Offensive Guard
• Jon Condo - Long Snapper
• Isaiah Ekeijuba - Linebacker
• Hiram Eugene - Safety
• Chris Johnson – Cornerback
• William Joseph - Defensive Tackle
• Shane Lechler - Punter

Players Added:

• Bruce Gradkowski - Quarterback
• Erik Pears - Offensive Tackle
• Khalif Barnes - Offensive tackle
• Jason Horton - Defensive Back
• Samson Satele - Center
• Ryan Boschetti - Defensive Tackle
• Marcus Johnson - Offensive tackle
• Jeff Garcia - Quarterback
• Shawn Bayes - Wide Receiver (UDFA)
• Nick Miller - Wide receiver (UDFA)
• Jonathan Compas - Offensive Tackle (UDFA)
• Jerome Boyd - Linebacker (UDFA)
• Desmond Bryant - Defensive Tackle (UDFA)
• Chris O'Neill - Tight End (UDFA)
• Frantz Joseph - Linebacker (UDFA)
• David Nixon - Linebacker (UDFA)
• Lorenzo Neal - Fullback
• Gary Russell - Running Back
• Samie Parker - Wide Receiver
• Danny Southwick - Quarterback
• John Paul Fochi - Tight End
• William Franklin - Wide Receiver
• Keith Davis - Defensive BAck
• Charlie Frye - Quarterback

Player Drafted:

• Darrius Heyward-Bey - Wide Receiver
• Michael Mitchell - Safety
• Matt Shaughnessy - Defensive End
• Louis Murphy - Wide Receiver
• Slade Norris - Linebacker
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