As a Patriots fan I would like to thank the Oakland Raiders once again for helping our team improve. In the past the Raiders accepted a lowly 4th round pick for Randy Moss, who had one of the best seasons ever at his position. In the offseason the Raiders gave up one of their top pass rusher, DE/OLB Derrick Burgess for a 3rd and 5th round pick. In yet another stupidly stunning move the Raiders gave up their first round pick in 2011 to the Patriots for fiver time Pro Bowl DE Richard Seymour. On paper that seems like a decent trade, but the Raiders were robbed yet again.
The Patriots have the best defensive line in the AFC with or without Richard Seymour. They have amazing depth and talent to spare. In fact the Pats had too many people up front, and trading Seymour was a stroke of genius. With the money the Patriots save they have cap room to sign the best Nose Tack in football Vince Wilfork, the key to the entire Patriots’ defense. They may even have some money left over to try and resign Pro Bowl Left Guard Logan Mankins. Not only did the Pats save money to help keep their team intact, the also got the Raiders’ 2011 1st round pick. At this point in his career Seymour isn’t worth more than a mid to late 2nd round pick, and the Raiders pick will probably be in the top 10 overall. (Sorry silver and black fans, your team isn’t going to get better any time soon).
So the Pats clear a roster spot, enough cap space to resign their best defensive player, and get a future high draft pick, all without giving up much more than a Pro Bowler in name only? The Patriots need to keep the Raiders on speed dial but they only have a few good players left. You can only fleece the same team so many times before they run out of assets. The Raiders might just take a bag of magic beans for All Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, but his broken wrist might drive the price down to half a bag of beans. Someone might want to wake Al Davis and tell him to turn his team over to the NFL before things get worse.
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