What has not been made clear is why he was tendered so high. The club has not commented on any reasoning to any tendered players. Coach cable and Al Davis have to have something up there sleeve with this situation. There is no way any team will trade for Routt or even want him. So why tender him so high?
The Raiders have plans with Routt and they definitely didn't want to take the chance of another team to sign him to an offer sheet. Al Davis loves tall, long-armed cornerbacks. Routt is not suited for the nickle cornerback and played better when going against one of the outside wide recievers. When Asomugha went down Routt held up well in his spot, no where near the skills of Asomugha but, the skills of Chris Johnson.
Al Davis might rather have two Chris Johnson corners than an Asomugha at one side. The reasoning for this is teams basically just plans against Chris Johnson and Routt. Unless they let Namadi shadow No. 1 receivers, teams are gonna just keep ignoring his side and whoever is on that side. With the whole field open then maybe Johnson and Routt will get more picks, or just get burnt.
The result of starting Routt would mean trading Namadi. The idea of two first round picks or a first and second or at worst a first and a third sits well with Al Davis. With those extra picks we could get the offensive and defensive tackle we need or possibly the inside linebacker and maybe Joe Haden as another option.
We have still lost all these years even with the help of Namadi so I don't see it stopping Davis in that perspective. Getting rid of one great player in order to fix two or three other positions seems like a better route to most teams. Though we are dealing with Al Davis here.
Another theory, and a...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
