Raiders want Randall Cobb, he wants to get paid

As free agency inches closes, some things are becoming more clear and those players who are getting a much better idea of which players will be hitting the market. One such player is Randall Cobb, who escaped the franchise tag from the Packers and has rebuffed any contract offers from the team.

Recently I mentioned the Raiders likely interest in Cobb due to several factors including Reggie McKenzie having been in the Packers' front office when they drafted Cobb and McKenzie's interest in reuniting Cobb with James Jones, a combo that worked quite well for a few years in Green Bay.

This interest has been confirmed by sources close to Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who added that the amount Cobb is seeking is in the ball park of $12 million per season. That's about $3 more than the Packers were prepared to offer Cobb who is coming off a Pro Bowl season.

Add to that, the report that says one team is prepared to offer Cobb at least $11 million per season. The two teams who are most capable of such an offer are the Raiders and Jaguars and with the connections to Reggie McKenzie, it's quite possible the Raiders are that team.

There are, of course, a lot of other important details in contracts -- guaranteed money being the big one -- that are often more important than the per season total. Those details often render simple numbers relatively meaningless due to the fact that a great many big NFL contracts are never seen through to the end.

With their current cap space at $54.6 million, expecting to rise to well over $60 million before March 10, the Raiders can offer him a front loaded deal which can be pretty attractive. And Reggie McKenzie needs to make these kinds of moves to show he is making every effort to put together a highly competitive team.

Even still, $11-$12 million per season for a slot receiver?

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