Hey Nation - I have been scouring the Raiders blog sites and I found one which will let me post and one which I feel my opinions will not completely be bashed into a box.

The 2013 season for the Raiders will hold new hope as all of them do. Starting with the tension surrounding the many opinions on the draft - the only choices which will matter are those of the team decision makers - all of which have done their homework and build a board fitting our schemes

Given our current cap liabilities - all other things being equal - we are already looking at a similar season as last season - with the possible exceptions of more continuity (we actually did not fire our coach) and an O/C who is know for the PBS offense as well as custom tailoring our offense around our unique tools.

Even this being said - I can rationally see no more than 3 wins more than last year - all things being equal.

Possibilities do exist for a one year turn around -

Create more cap space and potentially add more draft picks via trades (CP, TP, DMAC, DHB, TK, Branch)

Hit big on 50% current draft picks and all created through trades (probably the best way to get right for 2013) + see Crawford, Bilukiddi, Burris, Bergstrom/Nix and Ausberry develop in a major fashion.

Sign and continue to develop Wheeler. Goodson, Meyers and Bryant within our schemes. This plus the return of Ford/Goethel from injury and gives us a corp of guys who have played well for DA and Tarver - or - at least played well before injuries.

CP getting on the same page with his young and developing WR 's - Ausberry's development included.

Re-structuring CP3 - Cutting Kelly, Seymour, Bey, Briesel (Creating a plus 16Million) and hoping we can sign enough FA material to cover their positions and the rest of the depth so deparately needed.

Do you all see the tremendous "SHOT IN THE DARK" mentality here? There are only so many moves we can make and stay competitive hoping all key cogs stay relatively healthy (Laugh now)

There is nor "FIX" to our current problem except for time. In 2014 we already have 14 million more to spend as Seymours huge cap hit comes off the books. If we decide to hang on to DHB he too will have to vastly re-structure to fit withing the new team structure based on his maximum level of play (about 2M per year is right for him). With Kelly cut, Breisel, CC, Barnes and Romac gone - 2014 promises much more flexibilitiy.

No nation 2013 will be a transition season - the STEP 2 in a three step process. It is needed and desired by the rational Nation.

The irrational will have all the fix-it strategies. Yes, we do have a favorable schedule compared to this past season, but it cannot become the benchmark excuse - we must get more talent = talent cost money = we have no money = we have little sustainable talent (Reece, CP, JV, Wiz, DMoore, Ford, Jano, Houston and Bryant, Burris and possibly Huff if you count his flexibility) - talent that is, which could start on other NFL teams and play at a high level.

The rational Raider in me sees a team built on the size, weight and speed potential rather than a group of professionals who produce week in and week out. I watch a lot of film. 4-12 is what we are and this is not very good!

No denial - things look a bit better, than what we started with last season. We have Greg Olson and not Greg Knapp as O/C. CP3 will have to re-structure or take a pay cut, which I daily expect. This and more time to work with the WR corps should alone improve the offense.

That being said, we still have little flexibility to massively improve in 2013 - unless as I stated earlier - we move to make more draft picks (at the expense of cutting proven starters) and these start producing from the gate. (See the Seahawks last year for an example).

Just my opinion from south of the border - I welcome your dialogue