Raiders re-sign OG Cooper Carlisle

Not a week after the Raiders cut starting right guard Cooper Carlisle, they have re-signed him the team announced via press release. He was a cap casualty in a sense as he was worth $3 million in savings to the Raiders if he were cut. At the time, the team had said they were interested in bringing him back. We just didn't know they meant this quickly.

It was somewhat of a surprise the team didn't just simply restructure Carlisle's deal instead of cutting him. And it is difficult to say why the move happened as it did without knowing what Carlisle's position was. But regardless, it worked out for the Raiders and apparently for Carlisle as well.

It was thought that Carlisle was to be replaced outright by incoming free agent signing, Mike Brisiel. That could still be the case but Carlisle at very least be a heck of an insurance plan for the injury prone Brisiel. The former Texans' guard has missed 30 games due to injury in his short career including being put on injured reserve the past two seasons.

At best, Carlisle and Brisiel could both start. This would mean that one would line up at left guard and the other at right guard with Stefen Wisniewski moving to center. An additional option would be Brisiel playing center. He does have experience at the position and played the position in NFL Europe prior to joining the Texans in 2007. But the Texans never asked him to player there because they had standout center Chris Myers to play the position.

It remains to be seen where Carlisle and Brisiel fit into the scheme of things. But having two solid zone blocking guards will be a tremendous advantage for the Raiders going forward.

Contract details were not revealed but the thinking is that he has accepted the veteran minimum with a signing bonus.