FanPost

All this complaining is completely pointless

I could not figure out a better title, and I am very tired right now.

I'll be making two points in this article: one about franchise QB, and the other about the rebuilding

So a lot of people are upset about how the Raiders have been spending in this offseason. I'm here to tell you that bringing in big name free agents, WILL NOT matter if you want success in the NFL.

Even if we got Veldheer or Monroe, Linval Joseph, Michael Bennett, Jairis Byrd, etc. Our team would improve, but would not be sustainable. Sure, I would LOVE to have any one of these guys here, but even if we did get all of them it will still all be pointless.

Why?

Because we don't have a very good franchise QB. Maybe McGloin could be the guy, but he has to PROVE it. Many of you would point out Seattle, and that defense wins championships. I'm not sure how true this really is.

Seattle is the exception. Not the norm. Their defense had ZERO weaknesses, and is considered the best defense since the 2000 Ravens. Some even think it is BETTER, and it was the best defense since the 85 Bears! Safe to say it would be realistic that no defense would come close for a long ass time.

But they also do have a franchise QB.

Next you may say the Giants, who held the 2007 Pats to 14 points, and limited the 2011 Pats to 17 points. However, Eli Manning in both of those years was ON FIRE in the playoffs.

Same with Baltimore. When has Baltimore's "great defense" won them anything? Last year? Nope. That was Flacco, and his sudden injection of eliteness that drove them into the playoffs. You remember their game against Denver right?

I ask you, how many top defenses in the NFL won their team anything? Cinci, Pittsburgh, Baltimore (maybe 2000?), Niners, etc. Pitt did win two superbowls, however, they also have a very good franchise QB. It wasn't just their defense.

How many teams who had a QB that was very good, or was on fire in the playoffs? Baltimore, Packers, Saints, Pittsburgh, etc.

I'm not saying you don't NEED a defense. I'm saying you NEED a franchise QB. You need to build this team around someone if you want to win anything.

So sure, many of you would like to be the Jaguars right now, and wonder why Reggie was not able to reel in free agents like the Jags did.

1) Teams don't win games in free agency, and many "dream teams" that get very good talent in free agency don't always pan out (point is to say getting very good free agents doesn't mean a whole lot really, until you have a franchise QB)

2) The Jags haven't been poor for a decade. The Raiders are a household name of bad, and ineptitude. It would be much harder to coax free agents to come over to us.

Now about the rebuilding....

We are not going to win anything this year. We are not going to be an .800 team this year. I use to think that we could go 9-7, but seeing the schedule now... I'm really skeptical. I'll see how the rest of the offseason plays out.

However one thing is for certain is that you would be delusional if you think this team is close to being a contender. It's way too early to tell because we have JUST begun the rebuilding stage. We won't know a thing until 2 years from now.

And you know what? Building a contender takes more than a few seasons. Pete Carrol with the Seahawks built one in 4 seasons, and that was with multiple B and A rated drafts! It could tae longer for us.

We want to win now. Lot of us have been waiting for over a decade for the Raiders to come back to form. But the reality of the situation is that it is not going to happen this year. It just isn't.

The process will be sped up greatly if we get a franchise QB. It'l be interesting to see what Reggie does for the rest of the year. Oh, and by the way, Reggie could turn out to be a bad GM, but this is still the first year of rebuilding, and I'm not going to bash him just yet. I'm just patiently waiting to see what direction he is taking the team, and if you expect any sort of contender this year you will be sorely disappointed.

This is a LONG process, and if it means long term success, I am willing to wait longer.