Article:Al Davis Strikes Again!

Sources are telling ESPN’s Chris Mortensen that the Falcons have reached an agreement to send DeAngelo Hall to the Raiders for a second-round draft pick in April’s draft.

This was leaked yesterday, and even though Hall is trying to refute this, “Mort” is usually pretty good with these sorts of things.

I don’t really care about this. It is a bit dangerous, don’t get me wrong. They already have some solid players in their Defensive Backfield with Nnamdi Asomugha, Michael Huff and the addition of Gibril Wilson a few weeks ago. That is going to cause some trouble for the other teams in the AFC.

This leads me to thinking. This is a great thing for the Raiders but not all of their pickups this off-season have been the “smartest” thing out there.

For instance:

WR Javon Walker

Contract: $55 million over six-years ($16M guaranteed).

Analysis: That is ridiculous. Especially when you remember that he has had only two seasons over 1,000 yards, and only two seasons over 50 catches. Add to that the 23 games he has missed in those six years due to injury.

If he can be the player he was the one “Superstar” season he had in Green Bay then this will work out great, but the last thing that the Raiders need is a 29-year-old Wide Receiver who doesn’t live up to the hype and has a bum knee.

DE Tommy Kelly

Contract: $50.5 million over seven-years ($18.25M guaranteed)

Analysis: They resigned Kelly. And paid a lot for a Defensive End who has played in 49 games over four seasons (64 possible) who averages 41.5 tackles a season? For a guy who has 13 career sacks?

That contract comes out to average $7.21 million per season. To put that into perspective: if his base salary is just $7.0 million he is still making more in base salary then EVERY OTHER DEFENSIVE END made last year not named Jason Taylor or Justin Smith. [ 1 ] Is he really better then Julius Peppers, Michael Strahan, Jared Allen or even Trevor Pryce?

S Gibril Wilson

Contract: $39 million over six-years ($16M guaranteed)

Analysis: I like the signing. I will start with that. He will strengthen a secondary that is already stacked with talent. What I don’t like is the price tag. This will make him the third-highest paid safety in the NFL, behind Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Bob Sanders of the Indianapolis Colts.

I fail to see him being that good. Again, is he the thir best Safety in the league? Better then Brian Dawkins? Better then Corey Chavous?

The team has definitely upgraded, but has spent way more money then was needed to keep guys that cannot be considered elite. For reference, ESPN ranks players as follows:

90-100: Elite Player

80-89: Outstanding Player

70-79: Good Starter

60-69: Average Starter 

50-59: Good Backup

40-49: Below Average Backup/Core Special Teamers

And so on.

 

Here were their ratings.

Javon Walker – 70

Tommy Kelly – 71

Gibril Wilson – 74

That’s a lot of money for borderline guys.