No one is 'protected' with new leadership in town. Matt Bowen
On Thursday, the Raiders cut CB Stanford Routt—one season after giving him a deal that was eventually restructured to 5-years, $54-million dollars (with $20-mil in guarantees).
A surprise move? I didn’t see it coming, but then again, the Raiders have a new GM and head coach in town. And that signals change that should put the veteran players in Oakland on alert.
ICONReleasing Routt will send a message to the locker room in Oakland that there is new leadership in town.
This is the job of both Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen. Bring in their “own guys,” upgrade the roster and build a team that can consistently compete at a championship level.
I have no doubt that Routt will get picked up and signed to a deal this offseason with a new club. He has talent and can play man-coverage in this league. That sells to multiple teams that are in need of help in the secondary.
However, this is what happens when you bring in new management and coaching.
I’ve been there myself as a player. Back in ’04, when Joe Gibbs replaced Steve Spurrier out in Washington, the changes started to happen—immediately.
Along with the new schemes came a new roster. And that meant players had to go.
Clean out the locker room, start the transition and begin to develop a team around the Coach Gibbs with hand picked talent.
I survived (for a couple of years before I was eventually cut), but many of the players that had been with me under Spurrier were scattered across the league during that following season.
And by ’05, more lockers were cleared out. That transition continued until, well, most (if not all) of the Spurrier’s players were sent packing. That’s life in the NFL when you are veteran holdover and new leadership is brought in. You will eventually be replaced.
It’s already started with the Raiders. Routt is the first to go and many will follow as McKenzie and Allen begin to go to work on a defense that fits their needs this offseason.
The veterans in Oakland know this and should understand that they aren’t “protected” anymore. Some vets will stick around (for now), but forget about free passes or guarantees of making the final roster.
Those days are gone.
Follow me on Twitter: @MattBowen41
This is the first true sign that the Al Davis era is over. Every year, Raider fans watched him sign and re-sign mediocre players to big contracts. He was unwilling to accept that he could be wrong about a player or that other teams might know more than he did -- even as he continued to lose.
Routt is a talented, terribly inconsistent player who may well improve in a better environment. But Davis WAY overpaid him last year without making an offer to Nnamdi, a far better player. Davis paid Routt and Kameron Wimbley like they were great players, when neither is among the better players at their positions.
Cutting Routt will go down as Reggie McKenzie's first step toward rebuilding the roster and the organization. There are a lot of overpaid underachievers to go. I, for one, can't wait for the exit of Tommy Kelly, a big, strong DT who only shows up every third game.
The question is how McKenzie will replace Davis' guys. He has few draft picks and likely does not want to spend a lot on big-name free agents. I expected a roster filled with of low-paid overachievers, guys who are easy to root for.
well hopefully for Reggie the raiders fans will be patient and understand how much of the roster he will want/need to turnover and how few draft picks and "dead" cap $ he will have working against him. it might take 2 years just to clear that, we had to deal with it here in green bay when Ted came in and had to turn over the bad players that Mike Sherman signed/drafted.
Feb 10, 2012
08:58 AM
This is the first true sign that the Al Davis era is over. Every year, Raider fans watched him sign and re-sign mediocre players to big contracts. He was unwilling to accept that he could be wrong about a player or that other teams might know more than he did -- even as he continued to lose.
Routt is a talented, terribly inconsistent player who may well improve in a better environment. But Davis WAY overpaid him last year without making an offer to Nnamdi, a far better player. Davis paid Routt and Kameron Wimbley like they were great players, when neither is among the better players at their positions.
Cutting Routt will go down as Reggie McKenzie's first step toward rebuilding the roster and the organization. There are a lot of overpaid underachievers to go. I, for one, can't wait for the exit of Tommy Kelly, a big, strong DT who only shows up every third game.
The question is how McKenzie will replace Davis' guys. He has few draft picks and likely does not want to spend a lot on big-name free agents. I expected a roster filled with of low-paid overachievers, guys who are easy to root for.