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At the end of day one, we were left with a cliffhanger. The unknown was the status of Sean Smith. And when come the morning, Raiders fans had a gift under the tree, and it was just what they wanted. Can old Saint McK strike again on day three?
The sugar plum dancing in Raiders fans' heads this night is that of safety Eric Weddle.
It was about .02 of a second after Sean Smith was on board, that the focus shifted to reeling in Weddle as the Raiders next big fish. And yet, what we were left with was sitting in our dingy eating pork rinds all day with only a couple of nibbles.
Yes, I know, I just went from Christmas metaphors to a fishing metaphor. Cut me some slack, it's literally and figuratively been a long day.
So, anyway, there was free agent news to be had.
While the Raiders signed away a Chiefs player and are attempting to sign a Chargers player, the Broncos are getting stripped to the frame. They are trying to trade for Colin Kaepernick to replace the departed Brock Osweiler -- which is funny - and the Dolphins signed CJ Anderson to an offer sheet the Broncos are unlikely to match.
Free Agency results in the AFC West has the newly signed Raiders players seeing a shift in the balance of power in the division.
"Oh, it has definitely switched, clearly." Sean Smith said shortly after making it official with the Raiders.
"[The Broncos] definitely have lost some pieces and I think we gained a lot," said Kelechi Osemele about closing the gap between the Raiders and Broncos. "Regardless of what goes on from here on out, we definitely have more than enough pieces to where there can be no more excuses as far as there being a gap. We definitely have what we need. We just need to put it together, build chemistry and go out there and execute on Sundays."
"It's a young team," said Bruce Irvin. "A young, up-and-coming team. They went from [3-13] to 7-9 last year. That's a major improvement. The players that they've brought in in K.O. [Kelechi Osemele], me and Sean [Smith], you can see that the program is really on the up, and turning around."
The official announcements of all three of those free agent additions was what went down today. That may not be news to some people, but if they hadn't made it official, we'd all be like ‘Um...?'
Now we know. And we can move onto whose up next. Weddle or someone else.
The Raiders sit with approximately $28 million left under the cap. Plenty to add a few more solid pieces. Their work is not done.
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