Oakland Raiders

After spending 7 years with the Green Bay Packers, 8 time all pro safety Charles Woodson has returned to Oakland to wear the Silver and Black.  Woodson signed a 1 year contract with Oakland worth up to 4.3 million.  Woodson came into free agency after being released by Green Bay in February looking to play for a Super Bowl contender and met with upper echelon teams San Francisco and Denver during the process.  Nothing was worked out with the 49ers and Denver wasn’t willing to make the same commitment as Oakland, leading to Woodson’s decision to sign with the Raiders. Originally taken 4th overall in the 1998 NFL draft, Woodson returns to the Raiders as a safety at age 36. He will likely slide in at free safety in place of  Michael Huff and the Raiders will use his versatility to upgrade a defense that struggled last season. Woodson says he has fully recovered from a broken collarbone that sidelined him for nine regular season games last year.  He was the 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and has 55 career interceptions, 17 sacks, 24 forced fumbles and 11 interception returns for touchdowns in eight seasons in Oakland and seven in Green Bay. ”I’m just going to bring the intensity,  I’m a football player so I’m going to bring a lot of intensity, somebody that’s passionate about the game, and a guy that knows how to make plays. That’s what I’m going to bring. I think when guys watch me play, I think that raises the level of other guys because of the way I play the game. I’m going to bring that mindset, that mentality to the game, the same as I always have and have fun doing it.” Woodson said. One of Woodson’s first orders of business will be negotiating with new teammate Tracy Porter to get his  No. 24 jersey back. He wore that uniform in his first stint with the Raiders, owns a Napa winery called TwentyFour and has many fans eager to bring out their old Woodson jerseys to wear to games next fall. ”We’ll definitely have to have that conversation,” Woodson said. ”We haven’t had it yet. Raider Nation has me back but I don’t know if they’ll have me back without the 24 on my back.”

Raiders great, Tim Brown, has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the past three years and has fallen short each time. In the meantime he has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and can now add Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame to that list. "Initially, I'm like, ‘OK. All right,'because at that time I was waiting to see about the Pro Football Hall of Fame." Brown told Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group. "But somebody who is a baseball fan said, ‘Dude, you're going to be in a friggin' Hall of Fame with Willie Mays." I'm like, ‘Whoa.' It just sort of changed the whole perspective of what this is about. This is not a football Hall of Fame, this is a Bay Area sports deal. And from that standpoint, we really started to look forward to this night." Known as "Mr Raider", Tim Brown was the greatest Raiders receiver since the days when Fred Biletnikoff suited up in Silver and Black in the 70's. And while he was setting records for the Raiders in the 90's and 00's, Biletnikoff was his position coach. In fact, there was only two of Brown's 16-year career (88, 04) he wasn't coached by Biletnikoff and only three of Biletnikoff's 18-year NFL coaching career (04-06) he didn't have Brown to coach. So, it was only right that it was Biletnikoff who presented him at the ceremony. "To me, it was the only choice. Freddy was, what did I play, 15-16 years with the Raiders, and he saw the whole maturation process," Brown said. "From struggling coming off my knee injury to being just happy be on the field to wanting to play hard to more to starting to making Pro Bowls and until the end of the 16 years. "From that standpoint, I needed him to be part of the ceremony tonight. Whatever he's going to say, he's going to say because it's not or ever was about his words. It's just about him being part of the ceremony." "Watching Tim play for all those years was amazing," Biletnikoff said in his induction speech. "I could never be so proud." It may not be the all-important Pro Football Hall of Fame, but it is a Hall of Fame and an accomplishment none the less. Perhaps when he has been inducted into every other Hall of Fame, he will finally break through into Canton. Follow @LeviDamien

Some interesting observations from former Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown Thursday night as he was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. Brown was a teammate of Charles Woodson, who returned to the Raiders Tuesday as a free agent, and also a fellow Heisman Trophy winner. When they played together, Brown was the consummate [...]

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports With the recent explosion of the read-option offense in the NFL, athletic quarterbacks have become a hot commodity. Now more than ever, teams need scrambling backups who can step in and keep the offense moving without a hitch when players like Cam Newton and Russell Wilson go down. That’s the Oakland Raiders would be smart to trade third-year quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Several teams, including the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks, are still in need of a backup quarterback capable of keeping the game plan intake if the starter falls to injury. While there are several unproven options available on the open market, Pryor showed some promise last season in his three appearances with the Raiders. In three games (one start) during the 2012 campaign, Pryor completed 14 of his 30 passes for 155 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Despite his ugly 46.7 completion percentage, Pryor compiled a 70.8 quarterback rating, which wasn’t a huge disappointment for an extremely raw passer. His 51 rushing yards and one touchdown in only 10 carries were also promising marks for the 2011 supplemental draft pick. The fact remains, though, that with Matt Flynn and Tyler Wilson on the roster, the Raiders simply don’t need Pryor on the roster anymore. He’s too unpolished of a passer to compete for the starting gig, especially after putting on a lackluster performance to kick off OTAs. Even the presence of undrafted rookie Matt McGloin, an underrated talent, makes Pryor’s chances of playing this season slim. The only scenario in which Pryor would see considerable snaps in the not-so-distant future would be if both Flynn and Wilson fell to injury or were extremely underwhelming in a starting role. Chances are minimal that it plays out that way, though. Flynn and Wilson appear to be the future in Oakland, so the Raiders would be smart to trade Pryor and get something in return instead of letting him waste away on the bench. Some team that utilizes the read-option will see the value in Pryor and should be willing to give the Raiders at least a late-round draft pick. It won’t be a popular move, but it’s the move the Raiders should make as they work towards a brighter future. Gil Alcaraz IV is a Content Planner/NFL Featured Columnist for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @GilAlcarazIV, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

In episode 13 of the RaidersBlog podcast, Christopher Hansen and Taylor Armosino discuss the Charles Woodson signing, defensive scheme, optimism about the Raiders season and Chris’ upcoming vacation. or other podcast clients: http://raidersblog.com/feed/podcast

The Raiders completed Week 1 of Organized Team Activities (OTAs) of the 2013 off-season.

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The news of the rally staged at Raiders headquarters to greet Charles Woodson upon his arrival to meet with the team has been widely reported. Every news outlet, including NFL.com, has recognized the Raiders fans as mobilizing to show Charles Woodson they wanted him back. But not Trey Wingo and ESPN. On NFL Live on Tuesday - the day he was to visit --Wingo said that he sees this as an inside job. "Raiders put out a social media campaign to have all the fans show up at the facility welcoming him back," said Wingo. In response, ESPN's Adam Schefter echoed the statement, saying "Reggie McKenzie knows just the buttons to push with Charles Woodson." The next day on the show, it was more of the same from Wingo. "Raiders put the full home court press on him including having fans lining up at the facility to greet him and stayed there until he officially signed the deal," said Wingo. "The Raiders obviously pulling at his heart strings, GM Reggie McKenzie knew him from their days in Green Bay." The Raiders weren't "having the fans" do anything. The Raiders organization had nothing to do with it. It wouldn't take much research to figure out the Raiders didn't put out a single tweet or any such social media statement asking for fans to show up. This was all done by the fans. This was chronicled on S&BP in which the event page and the first such tweet was posted asking fans to show up at the facility. This article was picked up by NFL.com as well as several other media organizations -- who were also retweeting fan requests to generate a presence to welcome Woodson. Here is what NFL.com's Marc Sessler said of the fan generated gathering: "Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to admit: Oakland Raiders fans have passion. They're hoping it will make a difference in the pursuit of Charles Woodson... the free-agent defensive back is scheduled to meet with Oakland on Tuesday, per Woodson's agent, Carl Poston. In anticipation of that visit, Raiders faithful have started an online campaign to gather en masse at team headquarters." Read the entire article here. None of this convinced Wingo and his cohorts. Either Trey Wingo and ESPN don't know what Google is or they are suggesting the "fans" who were working hard to spread the word are somehow actually people within the Raiders organization posing as fans. I would suggest the Raider Nation take to social media once again to force Wingo to acknowledge his mistake. His Twitter handle is @Wingoz. That's seems the most appropriate way for him to get the idea. Follow @LeviDamien

Following the addition of Charles Woodson and his $1.38 million base salary, the Raiders have restructured Matt Flynn's contract to save $1 million off the 2013 salary cap according to Ian Rappoport. #Raiders restructured QB Matt Flynn's deal to convert much of his $3.25M base salary to a signing bonus. Creates cap room. #Math coming... — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 23, 2013 Why would the #Raiders need cap room? Well… They had just $179,987 available as of this morning. And draft picks to sign. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 23, 2013 #Raiders saved about $1 million with the Matt Flynn restructure. Add that to the $179,987 cap room they had… and now they have more #Math — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 23, 2013 This saves money now and shifts that money to next year when the Raiders are set to have around $50 million to spend under the cap. Whether this is really about signing draft picks is debatable. The team will also get another $8 million after June 1st when Michael Huff's dead money prorates and there is no rush to sign their picks now. The team didn't sign their draft picks until July last year. Follow @LeviDamien

The Oakland Raiders restructured QB Matt Flynn's contract and converted much of his $3.25 million base salary into a signing bonus. The move saved the team about $1 million against the salary cap. Huddle Up: Flynn's move cleared the way for DB Charles Woodson to be signed as the cash-strapped Raiders scrap for every cent.