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Originally posted by PFT
Rumbles of McNabb to Raiders trade emerge
Every once in a while, we develop a tipster who builds a track record of providing tips that end up being true.
And one of our latest tipsters who has been accurate with past tips (for the most part) has now given us a tip regarding the trade terms that possibly would send Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Raiders.
Per the tip -- uncorroborated but nevertheless intriguing -- McNabb and cornerback Asante Samuel would go to Oakland, and cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha would go to Philadelphia.
We don't know whether an offer of this nature has been made. We suspect that the Eagles would, at a minimum, want to replace Samuel with Sheldon Brown.
Anyway, stay tuned. This is all uncorroborated, but we know that our friends in Philly are desperate for information, and that our friends in Oakland are desperate for hope.
Every once in a while, we develop a tipster who builds a track record of providing tips that end up being true.
Originally posted by SF Chronicle
So Donovan McNabb is suddenly the Raiders' new favorite player, is he? So JaMarcus Russell will get one more chance to learn the position by watching, only this time from someone further up the quarterbacking food chain than Bruce Gradkowski?
Yeah, well, we'll believe it six days after we see it.
In fact, the juicier the rumors get, the less believable they actually are. Like the one about McNabb and Asante Samuel coming to Oakland in exchange for Nnamdi Asomugha and his $16 million/year, plus a draft pick above No. 42 (the Raiders have Nos. 8 and 39). It makes superficial sense, but the more you think of it, the more hinky it becomes.
First, the alleged departing.
Asomugha is still a superb cornerback by any measure, and you know how Al Davis loves cornerbacks. But it's not like the Raiders were tearing up the league with him on the flank, and he makes a boatload of money that the Raiders thrust upon him with great force and persuasion.
And now the rumored new employees.
McNabb is also an eight-figure salary carrier, and of advanced years and hits. His resume, on the other hand, is only slightly tarnished by having no Super Bowl ring, and those who want to dispute his value as a quarterback just want to pick a fight.
And Samuel? Also of advanced football years, and his best ones are already in the rear view mirror.
But the real kicker here is Russell, who would essentially be buried in Oakland, and we're just not convinced yet that Al is ready to take that step.
The one thing we have noticed about the Raiders of late is that when people most loudly demand action from them, their desire to do nothing is strengthened. They had to fire Tom Cable and didn't. They had to get rid of Darren McFadden and waived Justin Fargas instead. They had to get a football guy to serve as a sounding board for Al and didn't.
In short, the Raiders have decided to live the contrarian lifestyle - to preface every sentence with, "No, I don't have to," and then leave the rumors to die out on their own.
This doesn't mean they're not kicking the fenders on such a trade. It doesn't mean they're turning down anything out of hand. Because listening is always free.
But deals of this size are already rare, and a McNabb deal would almost certainly mean that the Raiders have abandoned the Russell experiment after only a couple of years of misbegotten adventures and disappointments, for a quarterback who may have one or two years left on his own chassis.
That's the problem here - not that McNabb isn't an immediate upgrade, or that Russell couldn't use all the mentoring he can absorb, or that moving Asomugha's contract is a bad idea. It's that the Raiders are not just a quarterback away from greatness, and McNabb is a temporary patch that will fall off before the hole has been repaired.
And maybe this also falls under the "Al can't admit a mistake" aegis, although at this stage of both his own health and his team's competitive viability, such vanity is an unaffordable luxury.
If this deal does happen, and so far the smoke has far outdistanced the fire, it means that the Raiders are rolling some big dice on a very small window. And while Al's patience is well short of infinite, he hasn't reached that nuclear winter stage of team building, where he throws everything at the one wound bleeding the most and leaves the others to go dry on their own.
But let's be honest and also say this - a McNabb-for-Asomugha deal that also undercuts Russell is a sensational conversation starter that would energize more than just the Philadelphia market (which already has chronic Iggles on the brain) and the Bay Area market (which has not had to contrive many reasons to ignore the Raiders) but the entire NFL. It is a fragmentation grenade a few weeks before the overblown nonsense pageant that is the draft.
And whether it's a realistic deal or a daft rumor made up by three drunks in a bar in South Philly or San Leandro, who doesn't want that just for the snicks and giggles?
Yeah, well, we'll believe it six days after we see it.
In fact, the juicier the rumors get, the less believable they actually are. Like the one about McNabb and Asante Samuel coming to Oakland in exchange for Nnamdi Asomugha and his $16 million/year, plus a draft pick above No. 42 (the Raiders have Nos. 8 and 39). It makes superficial sense, but the more you think of it, the more hinky it becomes.
First, the alleged departing.
Asomugha is still a superb cornerback by any measure, and you know how Al Davis loves cornerbacks. But it's not like the Raiders were tearing up the league with him on the flank, and he makes a boatload of money that the Raiders thrust upon him with great force and persuasion.
And now the rumored new employees.
McNabb is also an eight-figure salary carrier, and of advanced years and hits. His resume, on the other hand, is only slightly tarnished by having no Super Bowl ring, and those who want to dispute his value as a quarterback just want to pick a fight.
And Samuel? Also of advanced football years, and his best ones are already in the rear view mirror.
But the real kicker here is Russell, who would essentially be buried in Oakland, and we're just not convinced yet that Al is ready to take that step.
The one thing we have noticed about the Raiders of late is that when people most loudly demand action from them, their desire to do nothing is strengthened. They had to fire Tom Cable and didn't. They had to get rid of Darren McFadden and waived Justin Fargas instead. They had to get a football guy to serve as a sounding board for Al and didn't.
In short, the Raiders have decided to live the contrarian lifestyle - to preface every sentence with, "No, I don't have to," and then leave the rumors to die out on their own.
This doesn't mean they're not kicking the fenders on such a trade. It doesn't mean they're turning down anything out of hand. Because listening is always free.
But deals of this size are already rare, and a McNabb deal would almost certainly mean that the Raiders have abandoned the Russell experiment after only a couple of years of misbegotten adventures and disappointments, for a quarterback who may have one or two years left on his own chassis.
That's the problem here - not that McNabb isn't an immediate upgrade, or that Russell couldn't use all the mentoring he can absorb, or that moving Asomugha's contract is a bad idea. It's that the Raiders are not just a quarterback away from greatness, and McNabb is a temporary patch that will fall off before the hole has been repaired.
And maybe this also falls under the "Al can't admit a mistake" aegis, although at this stage of both his own health and his team's competitive viability, such vanity is an unaffordable luxury.
If this deal does happen, and so far the smoke has far outdistanced the fire, it means that the Raiders are rolling some big dice on a very small window. And while Al's patience is well short of infinite, he hasn't reached that nuclear winter stage of team building, where he throws everything at the one wound bleeding the most and leaves the others to go dry on their own.
But let's be honest and also say this - a McNabb-for-Asomugha deal that also undercuts Russell is a sensational conversation starter that would energize more than just the Philadelphia market (which already has chronic Iggles on the brain) and the Bay Area market (which has not had to contrive many reasons to ignore the Raiders) but the entire NFL. It is a fragmentation grenade a few weeks before the overblown nonsense pageant that is the draft.
And whether it's a realistic deal or a daft rumor made up by three drunks in a bar in South Philly or San Leandro, who doesn't want that just for the snicks and giggles?
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