The Axe Has Fallen

According to this AP Story that appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle website, Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin has been fired for cause. Cause he won't suck up to Al Davis is my guess. By firing Kiffen for cause, the Raiders can refuse to pay him the balance owed under his employment contract.

This will likely play out further as I'm sure Kiffin will sue to get the remaining money he feels is owed him under the contract. Or maybe he will be so happy to get on with his life he will just move on.

We'll see.

Memory Lane?

The clock is ticking for the Oakland Raider's head coach Lane Kiffin, according to news reports. Rumors circulating for the past two weeks have had him being fired at any time. I thought he would have been fired after the Raider's loss to the Buffalo Bills this past Sunday, given the way he mismanaged the clock at the end of the game. So far, it looks as if he's keeping his job. While no one knows the inner workings of Al Davis' brain (probably a good thing), my guess is Davis will fire Kiffin after this Sunday's game, win or lose. This is the final game before the Raider's bye week, and the new coach will have 2 weeks to prepare and get his system in place.

Perhaps Kiffin should check out this blog about upselling at the US Postal Service before he starts sending out his resumes.

R.I.P. Gene Upshaw

Gene Upshaw, the head of the NLFPA and former Oakland Raiders guard, died last night. His 15 year playing career included palying in 3 Super Bowls, 2 of which were won by the Raiders, 7 AFL/AFC Championship Games and numerous playoff games. His on field career culminated in election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Off the field he headed the NFLPA until his death.

He was a great player and leader and will be remembered as such.

And They're Off

The Oakland Raiders, sometimes known as the Chokeland Faders, jumped out to the lead in the race for the #1 draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. After tonight, they will be tied for first with 15 other teams reaching for that prize. The only problem is, they still haven't signed the #1 pick from the 2007 NFL Draft.

I'm not sure this is all the Raiders fault. Jamarcus Russell, the QB from LSU whom Oakland selected #1 overall is seeking around $31,000,000.00 (per published news reports) in GUARANTEED money in his first pro contract. That's right, THIRTY ONE MILLION DOLLARS. The Raiders want guarantees he's worth it.

You can't fault either one under the current system. Jamarcus wants all he can get, Oakland wants to get what they pay for. The end result is the longest holdout since Bo Jackson, back in the day when he didn't want to play football for Tampa Bay and so refused to sign and played baseball instead. Until the following year when the Raiders drafted him in the 4th round and he became the first modern 2 sport player.

So what is there to do? I think the time has come for the NFL to adopt a rookie salary scale. Let's face it, draft picks are paid for the promise they show, not for any performance on the NFL paying fields. So my plan would incorporate both paying for promise in the form of a bonus based upon draft pick number, and performance based upon how much they play. First off all, the draft pick bonus would be paid by the NFL, and would not count against a tam's salary cap number. These bonuses would be guaranteed. After that, the salary for the first 4 years would be set and equal for all players. These would not be guaranteed and would count against a team's salary cap. Lastly, a bonus structure based upon playing time would be implemented. Since this would not be paid until after the season is complete, a tream with room under the cap could elect to take it in the current year, or defer it to the following year. A system such as this would end holdouts, end wasting millions on players who do not live up to their potential (Hello Ryan Leaf) and free up teams to spend their salary cap money on players who have proven themselves.

That's just my 2 cents.