He clearly lost the ability to draft well although much of that blame also falls on the antiquated scouting staff that we employed. (It still gets back to Davis).

What is interesting to note that it was the TANDEM of Ron Wolf and Davis that made the Raiders great. Those two laid the foundation of perhaps the greatest Olines ever to be assembled. (Many of you may not be old enough to realize that in the Immaculate reception game the Raiders started 4 Hall of Fame O lineman:)

Shell, Upshaw, Otto AND Bob Brown(spent most of his years with the Eagles). George Buehler at RG was the only non HOF player. I do not think that ever has been or will be done again.
The problem was we were going against perhaps the greatest Dline assembled as well.
That was not an accident. All teams in the AFC at that time knew that if you could not beat Oakland’s OLINE you would not beat Oakland.

Perhaps you guys now might better understand my passion for building both lines but especially the Oilne.
With a dominant Oline you will win the majority of your games.

He didn’t care about being bigger than the raiders. Bo Jackson was bigger than any athlete at that time and Al called Bo to wish him happy birthday every year until he died

Now this team needs to draft good to great players on D and try and find a solid RT.

Letting Satele go was a bad move also.

Brisiel has stunk for the money given to him.

If I’m RM, I ask him to take a significant cut. I’m talking about a 40% pay cut.

Palmer won’t be happy. Probably won’t agree to that large of a cut.

Anyone know what kind of guaranteed money we owe CP ?

Either way, if CP doesn’t want to accept a more reasonable salary – that leaves two options.

Cut him or trade him.

Trade would be preferable of course, but honestly we’re not going to be able to get much in return unless he agrees to take less dough elsewhere.

QBs are at a premium in the NFL, and you never want to dump a good one.

But the Raids have to accept the reality that they’re a 4 win team with CP.

That same type of unacceptable result can be obtained for far less money.

The question that needs to be asked is, if you keep CP and his bloated salary around – can he get the Raids to 10 wins ? Is he a guy that will still be capable of playing at a high level, in say, 2014, with a presumably better supporting cast ?

My personal opinion is that it’s really not feasible to have a long term strategy built around CP.

Problem is I don’t see a viable alternative at this time.

Having said that, I would not be opposed to rolling the dice and bringing in guys who will probably turn out to be ’stop-gaps’ until a franchise QB is finally, mercifully obtained.

We’ve got to rebuild the defense and can Krapp to get competitive. That’s with or without Palmer.

We’re still gonna need a franchise QB to win Lombardis.

^^^^^^^^
Hmm…CP is still far better than over half the QB’s in the league.

If this team had a legit running game and a decent defense, CP would look that much better because it would equal more wins.

This is why I get so agitated with Hue being prematurely let go.

Hue made this team an effective running team and the passing game was unpredictable and explosive.

All that was needed was an improved defense.

But rookie owner Davis and rookie GM decided to tear it all down and try and completely rebuild when it didn’t need to be done.

Then hiring a young rookie head coach to replace a guy who was a better rookie head coach and then the new rookie head coach hiring a bad retread like Knapp to change offensive systems when it didn’t need to be changed and all of those bad moves, got this franchise and team in the terrible position it is today.

Lousy!

If I’m RM, I ask him to take a significant cut. I’m talking about a 40% pay cut.

Palmer won’t be happy. Probably won’t agree to that large of a cut.

Anyone know what kind of guaranteed money we owe CP ?

Either way, if CP doesn’t want to accept a more reasonable salary – that leaves two options.

Cut him or trade him.

Trade would be preferable of course, but honestly we’re not going to be able to get much in return unless he agrees to take less dough elsewhere.

QBs are at a premium in the NFL, and you never want to dump a good one.

But the Raids have to accept the reality that they’re a 4 win team with CP.

That same type of unacceptable result can be obtained for far less money.

The question that needs to be asked is, if you keep CP and his bloated salary around – can he get the Raids to 10 wins ? Is he a guy that will still be capable of playing at a high level, in say, 2014, with a presumably better supporting cast ?

My personal opinion is that it’s really not feasible to have a long term strategy built around CP.

Problem is I don’t see a viable alternative at this time.

Having said that, I would not be opposed to rolling the dice and bringing in guys who will probably turn out to be ’stop-gaps’ until a franchise QB is finally, mercifully obtained.

We’ve got to rebuild the defense and can Krapp to get competitive. That’s with or without Palmer.

We’re still gonna need a franchise QB to win Lombardis.

^^^^^^^^
Hmm…CP is still far better than over half the QB’s in the league.

If this team had a legit running game and a decent defense, CP would look that much better because it would equal more wins.

This is why I get so agitated with Hue being prematurely let go.

Hue made this team an effective running team and the passing game was unpredictable and explosive.

All that was needed was an improved defense.

But rookie owner Davis and rookie GM decided to tear it all down and try and completely rebuild when it didn’t need to be done.

Then hiring a young rookie head coach to replace a guy who was a better rookie head coach were just all bad moves.

This is simple guys.

marcus allen was seeing davis’s daughter and he was caken’ em on a daily.

Davis showed him that you can carry the ball and entertain me, but you cant be a part of my family and bang out my daughter.

This is the real reason for the feud.

davis did not want a black grandson by mistake or on purpose for that matter.

Old news

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What the H*ll? Mystic your black vs white racial BS has no bounds man. Go back to talking about the greatness of Pryor over Palmer. By the way I’m pulling for Pryor but you better be ready to reap the whirlwind if he stinks it up Sunday because right now everyone but you knows Carson is a better QB.

If I’m RM, I ask him to take a significant cut. I’m talking about a 40% pay cut.

Palmer won’t be happy. Probably won’t agree to that large of a cut.

Anyone know what kind of guaranteed money we owe CP ?

Either way, if CP doesn’t want to accept a more reasonable salary – that leaves two options.

Cut him or trade him.

Trade would be preferable of course, but honestly we’re not going to be able to get much in return unless he agrees to take less dough elsewhere.

QBs are at a premium in the NFL, and you never want to dump a good one.

But the Raids have to accept the reality that they’re a 4 win team with CP.

That same type of unacceptable result can be obtained for far less money.

The question that needs to be asked is, if you keep CP and his bloated salary around – can he get the Raids to 10 wins ? Is he a guy that will still be capable of playing at a high level, in say, 2014, with a presumably better supporting cast ?

My personal opinion is that it’s really not feasible to have a long term strategy built around CP.

Problem is I don’t see a viable alternative at this time.

Having said that, I would not be opposed to rolling the dice and bringing in guys who will probably turn out to be ’stop-gaps’ until a franchise QB is finally, mercifully obtained.

We’ve got to rebuild the defense and can Krapp to get competitive. That’s with or without Palmer.

We’re still gonna need a franchise QB to win Lombardis.

Mr Davis felt it was a PRIVELEGE to be associated with the Raiders. He was old school. Red Aurebach with the Celtics was the same way.
In defense of Mr Davis he paid players in the top quartile of what was typical in the day BUT HE EXPECTED MAXIMUM LOYALTY!!!!!

Marcus got involved in some contract issues that left Mr Davis feeling disrespected. For as loyal as Mr Davis could be, he could also be vindictive to a fault.
It also happened with Gruden and the salary Jon wanted.

Dave Casper and Snake also ran into this in their later years. Mr Davis had a hard time letting go of players when they played at HIS PRICE. He would become very nasty if he felt a player was being greedy.

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Great post Charlie, what’s crazy is Al was throwing cash around at players no where near the caliber of Snake, Casper and Allen the last 12 years of his life. Love Al but man I think his grudge matches prevented the Raiders from winning some additional Super bowls.