Free agency has officially begun. And as the clock ticked down to the deadline, the Raiders were oddly quiet. Well, silent actually. Even with several big contracts still in need of work for the Raiders to make any noise in free agency.
Players who we expected to see either get restructures or be cut are Kamerion Wimbley and John Henderson. There is also the Tyvon Branch franchise tag that needs to be turned into a long term deal which would free up even more money for signing free agents.
Kevin Boss will be cut but it will not happen until tomorrow. Currently reports have the Raiders at $640,000 under the cap. Once the Boss cut is official, that will clear up another $2.5 million. So, needless to say, the Raiders won't be making any big free agent noise today.
Wimbley's agent has said he expects to hear from the Raiders tonight to find out if the team will indeed be cutting ties with him. The timetable is not urgent as far as Wimbley's contract is concerned. The Raiders have until 4pm ET on Friday to cut him or they will be on the hook for his entire $11 million contract for 2012 and $17.5 million in total guarantees. If he is cut before that, he saves $2 million on this year's cap.
Henderson represents a cap hit of $4 million if he is cut. He could still be cut but the fact that the team hasn't made that move to clear up that cap money. In addition there are many other players of whom a restructure could be in order. But the fact that these move have not been made yet says the Raider have no sense of urgency in regards to the free agent market. They appear content to let the big names who will command the big contracts sign with other teams and perhaps check in with the second tier.
Buy the same token, they didn't make any last minute signings of their own. Key Raider free agents to hit the market include RB Michael Bush, C Samson Satele, DE Trevor Scott, WR Chaz Schilens, and OL Stephon Heyer.
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