Silver and Black Report

The Oakland Raiders cleared salary cap space on Friday with the release of wide receiver Ronald Curry, defensive end Kalimba Edwards and safety Gibril Wilson.

After signing Nnamdi Asomugha to the richest deal ever for a defensive back and retaining Shane Lechler for four more years with a contract that was dubbed “the greatest ever awarded to a punter in the history of the National Football League,” Oakland needed some relief in order to move forward with their off-season maneuvering.

Curry, 29, was expected to be a casualty some time ago, as they saved nearly $2.3 million by taking him off the roster. After posting 117 receptions in two prior seasons, the former 7^th round pick struggled in 2008 with a meager 19 catches for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The wide-out was even benched midway through the season, which left him pondering his future with the team that gave him a chance to develop at wide receiver after starting his career as a quarterback on the scout team.

“It’s like the team gave up on me. You go from playing to getting one or two snaps a game, the decision is being made. I’m going to go out there and continue to work at practice, work at games and once the season’s over, the picture’s pretty clear,” Curry stated after his demotion.

Wilson was one of the major free agents acquired last off-season when the Raiders attempted to solidify the back-end of their secondary.

After winning Super Bowl XLII as a member of the New York Giants,Wilson cashed in on his success and inked a lucrative six-year, $39-million deal with the Silver & Black that included $16 million in guarantees and that would’ve  paid him $19.5 million over the first three years.

Wilson was one of the more outspoken Raiders in 2008, demonstrating good leadership on the field and during the tumultuous end of Lane Kiffin’s stay as head coach.

In November, he opened up and had one of the more compelling thoughts regarding the happenings in Oakland:

This is a soap opera over here, man. If this was New York there would have been about 50 media people around here. This is a soap opera. I just think we need to settle on something. We need to have a vision of where we’re trying to take this team. If you don’t have a vision and you’re just trying to plug in players, then you’re always going to get the same results. We’re not about losing. This is the first team that I’ve been in a situation like this ever since I been playing football. We gotta win. That’s all I’m worried about, getting a win. I’m getting phone calls from friends asking me what’s going on and all that stuff. Right now, to be honest, football’s not even really fun just because of all the losing and stuff. Coming to work is kind of hard. Now dealing with D getting cut and all that stuff…

One thing is losing and another is dealing with all the extra stuff. We have so much on our plate already. To deal with the extra stuff is not healthy for anybody, especially when you’re trying to get a game plan in and you’re trying to know what you’re supposed to do and all that. It’s not a healthy situation at all.

 The 27-year old tallied 96 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2 interceptions in his only season in Silver & Black.

Edwards started 11 contests for the Raiders and compiled 5 sacks. After signing a two-year deal, the 29-year old defensive lineman was scheduled to make $2.25 million in base salary in 2009. 

Contact Author: Victor Cotto – SB Report Columnist