We've done this for a couple of other of the Raiders' free agents, and now it is Nnamdi Asomugha's turn. Just how much is Nnamdi worth to the Oakland Raiders? I am not even sure how to begin to answer this question. And at the root of it is how much is a shutdown corner worth in the Raiders man-to-man system?
To try and keep this somewhat manageable I want to think about this not in terms of what an actual contract may look like, but just in terms of what percentage of the Raiders' salary cap is Nnamdi worth for one season. And those points make this conversation useless in the real world, as there are an infinite number of ways to tweak payments that change up the player's cap value. This is more just a theoretical conversation. Jump over for more....
To begin with, there are no concerns over Nnam as a player. He is outstanding. He is everything you could hope for in a shutdown corner. There are a couple of concerns though, that I think detract from his value.
First is injuries. Nnam has spent time on the sidelines with various injuries the past year, and at this point, it is probably unreasonable to expect him to be able to play all game every game. Second is that the potential value of anyone corner is shrinking in the NFL.
Three and four receiver sets are used more than ever in the NFL. So are multiple tight end sets. This means that eliminating one receiver from a QB's progression is just not as big a deal when QBs' typically had only two receivers to choose from.
Opposition of the Raiders typically just take the guy Nnam is defending out of the progression. QBs' don't even look at the receiver he is covering. So how much is that worth? I think the $17 million he was scheduled to make. That is enough to pay two quality starting corners.
Even at $14 million a year, you are still talking about enough money to pay two very good corners. I am going to have to go with the $12-13 million range. Even that seems a little high. We are talking about ten percent of the entire salary cap figure going to one player, but Nnam is elite, and you have to pay for people that bring something you simply can't replace. What do you do?
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