That, and it's also the time of year when fans of teams on the outside of the postseason start looking ahead to the Draft and what may come from free-agency.
If no CBA is signed with the Players Union, free-agency will be much different than it has been. Any player that signed as a rookie less than six years ago but has an expiring contract, will not be a UFA, but rather an RFA.
Meaning that, an NFL player is required to play six years with the team that selected him before becoming an Unrestricted Free Agent.
Moreover, NFL clubs will have three franchise tags instead of one, while clubs that finish in the Final 8 (24-32) will have stiff restrictions on their ability to sign or resign free-agents.
Nevertheless, with three franchise tags in hand, the chances of an impact starter getting loose in free-agency is slim to nil.
Already, I have seen "Mock Drafts" which think that the Raiders could target a quarterback or linebacker, such as Ryan Mallet and Rolando McClain.
Al Davis generally doesn't use top picks on linebackers and if anything, Davis is still committed to JaMarcus Russell, while the progress of LB Trevor Scott seemingly suggests that linebacker is no longer a priority, anyway.
After that, safety Taylor Mays has been mentioned as a possibility, because of his measurables. Mays would help a secondary that has been burned deep and has had trouble with running backs going long.
Picking Mays would allow the Raiders some options in the secondary, such as giving more time to Michael Huff at corner, which is where he played in college.
I note that, because Nnamdi Asomugha played safety from 2003-2005 before returnin...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
