Even without Al Davis at the helm, the Oakland Raiders continue to make confusing front-office decisions.
Jay Glazer first reported that the Raiders had agreed to trade a first round pick in 2012 and a conditional first round pick in 2013 for Carson Palmer, a shocking price for a “retired” quarterback five years removed from his last Pro Bowl appearance. The same Carson Palmer threw 20 picks last season. The same guy that seemed happily retired from the game, taking in USC games and generally enjoying life.
But after Jason Campbell went down with a broken collarbone on Sunday, and Kyle Boller reminded everyone that he is still Kyle Boller, the Raiders seem to have panicked and made another ridiculous move.
The type of team that the Raiders have put together does not call for a quarterback to come in and win games. They have an excellent ground game with Run DMC and Michael Bush. Then Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford can catch short passes or end-arounds and scamper down the sideline.
Surely you don’t give up two firsts just to get Darrius Heyward-Bey the ball, do you? The Raiders have now sacrificed all their picks in the first four rounds of the 2012 draft, and while they have been accumulating a generous amount of talent in recent years, you simply cannot give away all of your picks in an entire draft class. This is no Ricky Williams.
Then there are the Bengals. The 4-2 Bengals may I add. The team that is being led by a rookie pivot and a rookie wideout who are ready to take the league by storm. Add in a decent ground game, an emerging tight end in Jermaine Gresham, and you have some dangerous pieces on offense.
The Bungles also have a respectable defense as well. With uber-freaks Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap coming off the edges, and Rey Maualuga chasing guys down in the middle, they have a highly athletic core on the defensive side of the ball that is only getting better. Leon Hall is a shutdown man on the corner, and they grabbed safeties Reggie Nelson and Taylor Mays off the scrap heap and are making something out of them.
Add in two more first round picks in what is said to be a deep class of 2012, and the Bengals could be putting together a legitimately solid franchise. As crazy as it sounds, Bengals owner Mike Brown comes out of this looking like a genius for taking such a hard line with his former star quarterback.
This is a confusing move to say the least, but it seems as if the Raiders are in win now mode. Boller couldn’t do it, and word is that their second option after Palmer was Vince Young. For all we know Carson could have gotten into exceptional shape in his extended offseason and be ready to lead the Raiders to the playoffs. If he didn’t, this could wind up as a collossal bust, and turn a tribute season to Al Davis into another season of mediocrity.
