2011 Oakland Raiders Season Thread
 

Well it looks like the lockout will finally come to an end this week, allowing the official start to the 2011 season, meaning we need a new thread! Here is our schedule...

Preseason:
Thursday, August 11 TBA Arizona Cardinals KICU
Saturday, August 20 TBA at San Francisco 49ers KTVU
Sunday, August 28 5:00 pm New Orleans Saints NBC
Friday, September 2 TBA at Seattle Seahawks KTVU

Regular Season:
Monday, September 12 7:15 pm at Denver Broncos ESPN
Sunday, September 18 10:00 am at Buffalo Bills CBS
Sunday, September 25 1:05 pm New York Jets CBS
Sunday, October 2 1:15 pm New England Patriots CBS
Sunday, October 9 10:00 am at Houston Texans CBS
Sunday, October 16 1:05 pm Cleveland Browns CBS
Sunday, October 23 1:05 pm Kansas City Chiefs CBS
BYE WEEK
Sunday, November 6 1:05 pm Denver Broncos CBS
Thursday, November 10 5:20 pm at San Diego Chargers NFLN
Sunday, November 20 10:00 am at Minnesota Vikings CBS
Sunday, November 27 1:05 pm Chicago Bears FOX
Sunday, December 4 10:00 am at Miami Dolphins CBS
Sunday, December 11 10:00 am at Green Bay Packers CBS
Sunday, December 18 1:05 pm Detroit Lions FOX
Saturday, December 24 10:00 am at Kansas City Chiefs CBS
Sunday, January 1 1:15 pm San Diego Chargers CBS

and so it begins

Well, let's start it off.

Biggest name to not make our final roster. I say Chaz Schilens.

I already requested Monday 12 off I'm ready for that game like no other. Got a new TV to watch it on and the NFL Sunday ticket for free this year im so ready for some football.

One thing we do know already is that the offense line is gonna be young and really inxeperince(sp) Which scares me but at the same time its a good thing cause finally we have some new faces and not the same ol faces that we know that are horrible. Jared Veldheer,Stefen Wisniewski,Joseph Barksdale,Bruce Campbell all need to step up.

Well I heard Oakland is 15 mil over the cap from ESPN and that Oakland is 20 mill under the cap from NFLN. we shall see.

One way or the other we are going to see a good amount of players be cut. My biggest concern is will we be able to resign Miller.

It's good to be back...

Schedule is tough and with no o-line in place, I expect a big step backwards.

I have the feeling we will go 7-9 this year, which isn't bad with the teams we have. I feel this is a transition year in a way with losing Nnamdi will change our defense up and the offense is still young and will hopefully make mote strides even with the questions we have on the oline. Rumor is Bruce Campbell has a real chance to play RT this season, which would be very interesting to see

Al better be in full force to resign Asomugha hes the most important person on the team, I think cuts need to be made and some hard decisions.

I've heard we will likely restructure a goof amount of contracts to save us some space, but there's no doubt cuts will be made. Carlisle is all but gone

Aso is gone, best of luck to him. Miller, however, we have a real shot of keeping in town and we should give him at least market value to retain his services. He is definitely a key cog to our offense as it continues to grow.

D-Mac, Seymour, and Veldheer are all more valuable and have larger impacts than than Nnamdi. Hell, I'd say Shaughnessy and Houston are more important to the defense. Love Nnamdi and I still think he's the best CB in football, but we have too many holes to fill for a guy who's the 3rd best player on our defense and isn't a leader.

If he walks, I will be so pissed. 25 year old potential pro bowl tight ends don't grown on trees. He's a definite keeper for the future.

I'm pretty sure we're in good cap position. I think espn added in dead money that shouldn't have been included.

It's being reported that Zach Miller is very likely to stay a Raider, which is awesome news. I haven't heard much of F/A's we have interest in, but that's most likely because we are still figuring out what we are going to do to our cap situation.

Also anybody see our UDFA's? I saw a short list earlier today and didn't recognize any names.

It's going to be hard to see him go, but he's worth too much green...and at his position and age, how many more years can he be the player he is now?

What kind of comp pick do you guys see us getting for Asomugha?

Well he is going to get a very very large contract and aren't those picks determined off that? It makes sense if we get the 3rd round pick and the trade we made during the draft. The comp will replace the 2nd we sent to the Patriots.

I'm sure we will find a way to trade that pick to the Pats as well lol....

It was reported late last night that we have been in talks with OT Jared Gaither. I support this 100%. If Hue says he believes he can get the best out of Gaither, then it will be worth the money. He has injury concerns, but there is no doubt when healthy he is a top 10 OT in the NFL. Idk if he is open to playing RT, but i really wouldnt be mad at all if we moved Veldheer to RT.

Definitely need to lock up Miller.

Heard some reports of us going after Cromartie and Braylon. I think espn's report of us being 15 mil over is wrong too. They're going to negotiate a long-term deal with wimbley that will save us some money against the cap too.

We have interest in Lutui from Arizona as well. Fits the big olinemen we want for our power scheme.

Still no word if we have came to an agreement with Gaither, I'm sure we wil find out tomorrow though once F/A's can actually starting signing

We could add Vince Young as a back up to Campbell and potentially a replacement. If Hue thinks he can fix him on and off the field, we could have found a very good deal there. Just heard Adam Schefter say we will be a team interest in signing him once he is released

Also it looks like Michael Bush could be holding out, but also it would be he hasn't signed his tender since he wants to wait if anybody wants to give up a 1st and 3rd for him, which is very unlikely.

We got Gaither.

Yup Gaither is a Raider. Now let's see if he is a LT or RT...