Thanks to the folks at Pro Football Weekly, here's the list of Raider free agents.
Unrestricted
QB Marques Tuiasosopo
TE Tony Stewart
WR Drew Carter
WR Ashley Lelie
C Jake Grove (can void the final year of his contract to become a free agent this year)
RG Cooper Carlisle
DT William Joseph
LB Isaiah Ekejiuba
LB Sam Williams
CB Nnamdi Asomugha
CB Chris Johnson
CB/KR Justin Miller
S Rashad Baker
P Shane Lechler
Restricted
LB Ricky Brown
LB Jon Alston
Considering how glowingly Raiders owner Al Davis spoke of Chris Johnson, I can't imagine the Raiders not making a decent offer that would keep him in Oakland. Without Johnson, the Raiders would have Stanford Routt to pair with Nnamdi Asomugha, who is probably going to receive the exclusive franchise tag again.
And unless the Raiders have a lot of faith in CB John Bowie, Johnson should be back.
A big-money offer is probably going to be needed to keep Lechler around. I also expect the team would try to keep Rashad Baker and Isaiah Ekejiuba.
Though the team gets S Tyvon Branch back, Baker proved valuable. The team is likely to cut S Michael Huff, something he also expects. Branch's return could mean the Raiders would let Justin Miller walk with little resistance.
*The San Francisco Chronicle ran the story about the fight on the team flight between DT Terdell Sands and Lechler following the team's Nov. 23 win at Denver.
I'd heard about the scuffle that was fueled by alcohol consumption before the flight, as the story was told to me.
I don't think Sands hitting Lechler would be enough for him to leave. Players fight other players more often than you think.
*Many are disappointed RB Justin Fargas would allow himself to be filmed in the presence of marijuana, but this shouldn't tarnish his reputation.
Fargas isn't taking part in the "Smoke-a-thon" and he wasn't hosting a Cheech and Chong session at his house since Yukmouth didn't bring his "turkey bag" of chronic to Fargas' home, even if Yukmouth says it was Fargas' house.
Another lesson is, watch who you let bring a video camera around you.
--Jason Jones
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