With ESPN's announcement, that a deal is in place (A Contract Extension is Holding It Up) between the Raiders and Falcons that would send the #34 overall pick (Early Doucett, Devin Thomas, Trevor Laws, Jamaal Charles) to Atlanta for DeAngelo Hall, It seems to me that either Stanford Routt or Fabian Washington will be shipped off for a pick.
They are both attractive to teams that need a DB because UNLIKE Hall who wants nearly $57 million dollars, the Raiders have already spent money on Fabian and Routt and they are both, NOT HOLDING OUT and will play for the money the Raiders signed them for, which, COMBINED, is 3.9 million for the next two years.
It has to be either/or at this point.
John Bowie is a sure tackler with good technique and he is fast enough to play nickel and even with only ONE of Fabe/Routt, Bowie would be the dime back.
The Raiders have done ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING they can to WIN in 2008 and Fabian and Routt can be replaced.
Fabian would save the team $2.3 million over the next two years.
Routt would save $1.6 million over the next two years.
If these events play out then the Raiders will have morphed from a TERRIBLE secondary which included, Huff covering TE's, Schweigert starting nearly every game and neither Routt nor Washington being able to hold down the corner position opposite of Nnamdi to having a very good tackling strong safety, Huff in his third season and playing his natural free safety position and DeAngelo Hall SHUTTING DOWN his man while Nnamdi does the same.
That IS A-MAZING!!!
With Howard being able to drop back into coverage and Morrison able to plug the gaps on the run and drop back against the pass the Raider's will have a HIGH turnover/speed defense.
Burgess has got to be elated to play with those DB's and LB's...COVERAGE SACKS are GREAT and Derek hasn't had many of those!!!
IF Gholston makes it down to #4 then I believe that the Raiders could lead the NFL in sacks AND turnovers. Hell, they may even lead the League in scoring defense!!!
With Burgess and Gholston on the edges and Kelly and Richardson/Sands/Joseph up the middle there should be plenty of pressure on the edges and pockets collapsed in the middle.
That defense would be the foundation of a Championship Team.
Championship teams are built on Defense and Rushing.
Leading the League in turnovers, defensive scoring and rushing would give you a pretty good chance at going deep into the playoffs.
It should be obvious to EVERYBODY that Al's time at the helm is coming to and end and that by signing all of the players he has that this is his last RIDE. He wants two more Super Bowls before he rides off into the sunset and I would LOVE to see him holding up the Lombardi trophy again.
So, Give em HELL AL and I'll be here to YELL about it!!!