Training camp, Day 4 (P.M. practice)
By Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer
Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 9:38 pm in Oakland Raiders.
News and notes, sights and sounds from the Raiders practice Monday night:
– JaMarcus Russell doesn’t have a contract, but he did get a message from his prospective employer.
“We’re working out Daunte Culpepper tomorrow morning,” coach Lane Kiffin said. “We’re flying him in. Any time we have a chance to investigate something that could help our team win, we’re going to do it. Obviously Daunte is something weve been looking into a little bit and this is the climax of it.”
Kiffin said an Oakland scout had checked out Culpepper in Florida recently and said the Russell situation was a factor in the visit.
“Sure it has to do with that. You’ve got to take everyting into consideration,” Kiffin said. “You’ve got to protect your team, you’ve got to put your team in the best position to win and make sure you have the right depth and the right competition. So obviously that factors into it.”
Culpepper was released by the Miami Dolphins July 17, visited with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has been linked with Jacksonville. Apparently not recovered from a serious knee injury, although cleared to play, Culpepper started four games before being removed from the lineup.
His last good season was in 2004, when he passed for 4,717 yards, 39 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with Randy Moss as his favorite target.
– Running back LaMont Jordan missed the night session with a sore lower back, and Barry Sims began practice but didn’t finish because of an unspecified injury Kiffin termed minor. Wide receiver Jerry Porter buckled on one pass route and later was stretched out on the field, with trainer Rod Martin working on an ankle.
–Other than a few shoves, the first scuffle of camp broke out between center Jake Grove and linebacker Kirk Morrison. At the same time, a few yards away, Cornell Green took exception to being put on the ground by Jay Richardson during a light drill in which players are urged to stay upright.
– The Raiders began the evening practice in pads but switched to light “spider pads” after an hour and 15 minutes.
– Nnamdi Asomugha came up withi the camp’s best interception on a leaping grab of a fade pattern thrown by Josh McCown to rookie Johnnie Lee Higgins. Asomugha snared the ball at the top of his leap, just above the jumping Higgins.
Moments earlier, Higgins had responded to scoring a touchdown in a goal line drill with a windmill jam over the goal post.
– Morrison concluded practice with an intercepton of an Andrew Walter pass that went nowhere near a receiver.
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July 30th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I don’t really see how Culpepper is going to help in this matter. I don’t see us signing him because he is going to want too much money and he may not even be recovered enough. I just don’t see the agents for JR getting amped up about this and it won’t hurry them into getting JR signed. At this rate, JR could hold out long enough to re-enter the draft next year. Wouldn’t that be interesting? The worst situation would be if we sign Culpepper and then JR. We’re not going to go into the season with 4 QB’s.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
This Russell situation is really starting to look bad. I knew we were going to have a problem signing a number 1 overall QB. Al just doesn’t like the idea of paying someone that much to sit on the bench. This is dragging out waaaay too long. We’re 4 days in already. This isn’t good.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Al Davis knew it was going to cost a lot of money to sign Russell. If Al doesn’t want to spend around 60 mil with around 30 mil in guarantee they shouldn’t of drafted him.
Raiders need to get him into camp sooner than later.
I really hope they don’t bring in Pepper isn’t good.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Good to know Walter’s starting where he left off.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Culpepper can only improve the QB situation. If he seems to be fully recovered from his injury, he could be a steal. His statistics don’t lie and, provided he’s fully healed, I’ll take him over any QB on our roster. Plus, he’s got a chip on his shoulder. You gotta love talented players who feel they have something to prove. The Raiders will be smart and use the appropriate contract language if they sign him. Imagine if he’d sign for the veteran minimum with performance escalators! I may be dreaming, but he may be desperate enough for a chance.
July 31st, 2007 at 3:13 am
Culpepper is just a smokescreen. We have no intention of signing him. Al loves leverage though and knows how to use it. He knows this contract negotiation may have to drag on for awhile due to all the details and hangups, so Culpepper is a perfect foil to inject some doubts in the minds of Eric Metz, et al. Al is happy to have McCown start the season and protect his franchise QB until the offense is ready.
A lengthy holdout only hurts J-Russ’ agents’ reputation, and makes it easier for Al and Kiff to sit him on the pine while McCown takes the brunt of the early onslaughts. In the meantime Al has more leverage to get the hard contract details hammered out in his favor.
July 31st, 2007 at 4:50 am
Good to know Nnamdi’s starting where he left off! (My glass is half full Jskidds)
July 31st, 2007 at 5:41 am
Had we chosen Chad Johnson in the draft we would still have a holdout. I say sign Culpepper and let him holdout all season if he wants to. If anybody has the stones to change these outrageous rookie signings it’s Al Davis. Hell, Brady Quinn is holding out. Give McCown the ball and let him run with it.
July 31st, 2007 at 5:50 am
Culpeper and Moss were only good when Cris Carter was in Minn. After Carter retired. Culpeper and Moss’s production dropped. Forget Culpeper.
July 31st, 2007 at 6:55 am
Who is this Jake McCown that was intercepted by Asomugha? Might want to get that fixed, Jerry. Thanks for the update.
~Asher
July 31st, 2007 at 7:30 am
Jerry…I’m starting to sense a little bias against Walter. You have continually written about McCown and said little of Walter.
You have failed to mention the many interceptions McCown has had throughout practice - probably more than Walter. You have also failed to mention the botched snap, fumble, and tripping by McCown.
There are other reports that Walter is outperforming McCown. I am wondering who is being objective here?
July 31st, 2007 at 7:33 am
All…what I am going to do here is provide excerpts from other sources about the QB competition.
July 31st, 2007 at 7:36 am
Here’s one link that goes into detail about the competition where the author believes Walter is winning out….
http://raiders.pressdemocrat.com/default.asp?item=657651
July 31st, 2007 at 7:43 am
u know we are not signing this clown. its food for the sharks (media) al davis knows with the media knowing this they will take it, run and make a big stink about the JR deal. he will not be signed until the 2-10 picks are signed so that way he is assured the right amount of money he should get. mccown is the man for now and will start off the season for us. he has got until week 5 to sign anyways…….IN 2007 RAIDER NATION WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH!
July 31st, 2007 at 7:44 am
Here’s another excerpt from a writer (who admittedly is a Walter fan)….
“They were working on play action fakes, where the ball is handed off and QB pretends to still have it. This is one area I think Walter has an edge over McCown. Josh was reminded he needed to sell the pass. Running back Domininc Rhodes looked good in this particular drill, getting the ball from Walter. ”
“In the 7 on 7 drills, Walter showed again he can run…Frampton will stand up to anyone…BJ Ward intercepted another McCown pass…Fabian Washington is showing he is picking up where he left off last year, breaking up a Walter to Francis pass”
“Shotwell had two memorable plays…He then managed to atone for this by getting an interception on a McCown pass”
July 31st, 2007 at 8:01 am
Hopefully this working out Daunte Culpepper is nothing more than a negotiating tactic…
July 31st, 2007 at 8:04 am
Nobody wants to see Walter on the field in 08. If that is the scenario, then we should bring in Culpepper. I would not be too worried about Culpepper if i am JR because he probably will start the season on the PUP list. If culpepper is healthy, he can be a good player. Another good reason to sign him is because he is his own agent. You can basically cut him for nothing. He was owed millions by the Dolphins; however, he negotiated such a dumb deal, it was easy for the Dolphins to wash their hands of him. The only reason they even tried to get some compensation was because they got reemed by Carl Peterson for a potential third round pick.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:42 am
Not to state the obvious but, OF COURSE Davis isn’t willingly going shell out (no pun) 30 million for a 20 year old kid. Culepepper is clearly a tactic to close the deal under his low ball terms. We have just gone through horrific seasons with Brookes and Collins I doubt with all the positive momentum he wants to take a step backwards. But, we may be in for a long stale mate.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:49 am
After further Review…. the sky is not falling. There are seven other first round picks not yet signed. The Raiders obviously have their hands full with JR, but what gives with players like Levi Brown, Darelle Revis, and John Beason: all these players are basically sloted because they are surrounded by guys who have already signed. Gaines Adams signed for 6yrs, 46million, 18.56 in garuantees while Laron landry 5 yrs, 41.5, with 17.5 million in garauntees. It would seem like the levi Brown deal would be closed by now. Darelle Revis has eight players in front of him another 9 or so in back of him that have contracts in place. This would seem to be a bigger crisis than JR and oakland’s negotiations.
I have heard that one thing that is taking extra time to work out this year is bonus money that the team can recoup in case of a suspension or holdout. Here is hwta the insiders at Pro Football talk had to say on the subject: “Though some believe that the gap between the Raiders and Russell is rooted in money, we heard earlier on Monday that the structure of the deal is the problem. Russell’s camp wants to maximize the amount of the package that is devoted to an option bonus payment, which is not subject to forfeiture in the event of a holdout or a suspension.”
That makes a lot more sense than just simply the raiders have no money and are not speaking with the same voice. With all the happenings in the NFL, the Raiders want to protect their investment. If they can position themselves to get their money if something happens to Russell in ilk of Mike vick or pacman jones, they are just being smart.
July 31st, 2007 at 9:15 am
Al knows he has to pay JR major bling. If Matt Millen would just get his act together and sign Calvin Johnson, then we could sign JR. Unfortunately, Russell’s agents are a little green and they jepordize their careers on Russell signing a “sub-Johnson” contract. So, whatever Johnson gets, add $1 and get this thing done.
July 31st, 2007 at 9:19 am
Good move to sign Culpepper. Because there have been no immediate suitors, it shouldn’t cost much to sign him. Furthermore, because his strengths are similar to Russell’s, he is the perfect mentor for him. Even if he never takes a snap, it could be a good move. Also, if he’s healthy (big if granted), he could push Mc Cown as starter.
July 31st, 2007 at 9:37 am
there’s nothing wrong with the russell contract situation. football is a business, and jamarcus is a huge investment. plenty of teams, including detroit and clevland, are in the same boat don’y buy that bullshit about how embarrassing this is, or if we still had mike lombardi this would never happen. fact is lombardi never dealt with someone of russell’s stature, and the guy was a cancer.
support the team, let the business men worry about russell.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:09 am
We need to sign Culpepper and cut Walter. This will take care of not having 4 QB’s on the roster and it is absolutely ridiculous to even have Walter on the team at all. He is by far one of the worst QB’s in the league but it’s very obvious that if you can throw the ball 75 yards you are guaranteed a warm spot in Al Davis’ heart. Culpepper may not be in the physical shape that he once was in but him and JR are very similar and would be a great mentor for him. It would also take some of the pressure off JR by ensuring that he would not have to start a single game this season. It’s inevitable that McCown will struggle and Walter will for sure be the same QB he has always been. With only those two in front of Russell, he will for sure have to play this year which is never a good thing, especially factoring in how poor of a supporting cast he will have on offense.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:33 am
Look, the Raiders haven’t had a holdout in 12 years. Writers are hinting the loss of Allen and then Lombardi are part of the problem. They are talking about the inexperience of the Raider negotiators chiefly Mark Jackson. This is a bunch of BS! This is the top pick, they are OK on money, Russell’s peeps are afraid to close the deal and have Johnson’s contract be better. Plus they are trying to get the contract set up so if something happens to Russell off the field or there is a future holdout, he still gets paid.
Believe with all the off the field crap which has happened around the league the last two years, guaranteed money is HUGE in these deals. The Raiders have plenty of money, Russell probably wasn’t going to start in the first place, and Culpepper is just a nudge to Russell’s camp to get the deal done.
If this deal gets done before the CJ deal, there will have to be a built in guarantee that Russell will not be underpaid, PERIOD. Deal will be done soon, believe Russell thinks he could start so he will be in contact with his agents to get this thing done.
Calm down people, we have never had an overall #1 and I pray we are never even close for a LONG time.
July 31st, 2007 at 11:03 am
I’m totally on the same page with Tim and Chad…there is always a possiblility that draft picks hold out and even more so with a #1 pick. CJ wants $30mill from the Lions and JRuss agents do not want to sign a deal less than what #2 gets or they look bad. It’s all business and at some point it will get taken care of and JaMarcus will be practicing. If he is still not here by next weekend and the first preseason game then I will start worrying. Until then McCown and Walter battle it out for the Week 1 start…or Culpepper. If we could sign Culpepper for a cheap one year deal, which is all he wants, loaded with incentives…whats the harm? It creates a three way battle and puts more of an onus on Russell to sign a deal.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I hope this is contract tactics… Please, do NOT sign Culpepper, even as a mentor, please don’t…
Those who say Walter should be cutted must have eaten some real bad weed this morning… Walter si a lot like Schaub and if we don’t want him later, say in 08 or 09 he would be worth some picks, again a lot like schaub, just a notch behind in the develpoment…
July 31st, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Kiffin said it was all about competition. Culpepper gives us more competition at the quarterback position, plain and simple. This depth at QB becomes more important with each practice that JRuss doesn’t attend due to contract negotiations.
July 31st, 2007 at 3:20 pm
yeah, but this means fewer minutes each with the first team
August 1st, 2007 at 8:09 pm
[…] Miami Dolphin, Dante Culpepper, ended up in Oakland. The Raiders haven’t been able to sign their first round pick, QB JaMarcus Russell, and this […]
August 17th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
All you…or most of you were entirely WRONG!!!!! Everybody claimed JR would be signed and that Al Davis was only using the “maybe” signing of pepper to make JR sign earlier was BS!!!!! Its now august 17 and STILL NO SIGNING FOR JR AND YES we did sign pepper. Right now Raiders are the only team that has NOT signed 1st round draft picks…..come on this is getting tired and old. JR is losing valuable learning time because either he and/or his agents are being greedy and Raiders just need to go ahead and sign him otherwise they completely lost a great opportunity with having the first pick of the 1st round. If thats the case then we should of traded that pick with another team for other players as well as other picks. Cause if JR doesn’t sign that that pick was a complete waste!!!! All this is getting ridiculous and is really starting to make me wonder about the Raiders overall way of thinking and JR’s ignorance of thinking the more time hes out of camp wont affect hes playing and respect of others. Most of us would Dream of getting even 20 million in Guarantee money let alone 30 million…stop being greedy Russell!!!!!! Basically I don’t know hwta to think and whose really to blame the raiders or JR and his agents. But all this holding out just makes people wonder……….and come up with their own conclusions!!!!!