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

Ladies and gentlemen, the Oakland Raiders (3-8) are actually favored going into a contest for the first time in 2008. After a convincing 31-10 road victory last weekend against the Broncos and with the lowly Kansas City Chiefs (1-10) coming into town, the Silver & Black are the prognosticators choice on Sunday, as they will look to sweep the season series from their west rivals for the time first time since 2001.

OAKLAND RAIDERS

On Offense:

When the Raiders win, they run the ball effectively. The Chiefs have been one of the league’s worst clubs at stopping the run allowing an average of 165.9 yards per game (31^st in the NFL). Combine that with Darren McFadden’s health, his week two 164-yard effort at Arrowhead and the Silver & Black’s 158-yard output against the Broncos, and the Chiefs could be in for a long day. “They’ve got two big punishing backs and their offensive line is very good,” Kansas City coach Herm Edwards commented this week. “They run their scheme very well. They’ve got some good receivers but their game is run the ball. They’re going to try to pound you that way.”

Also promising last weekend was the production the Raiders got out of receiver Ashley Lelie. The former Bronco torched his teammates for 92 receiving yards and a touchdown. And a week after learning a family had passed away; JaMarcus Russell played his best game as pro statistically going 10/11 for 152 yards and a touchdown pass.

What to Expect:

Oakland will run the ball. They’ll try to stem everything on offense of the success of the ground game and hope to see their trio of rushers mimic the numbers they produced during their week-two 23-8 victory in Kansas City. Having a solid game under his belt and the Chiefs focusing on stopping the run, the Raiders will let Russell get vertical a few times as well to excite the ‘Black Hole.’

On Defense:

Derrick Burgess got back on the field last Sunday after a six game absence. He didn’t record a sack, but along with Kalimba Edwards, the Raiders were able to apply enough pressure on Jay Cutler to force some miscues and ground the Denver aerial attack. Burgess has only 1.5 sacks this season, his solo sack coming during the Raiders victory against the Chiefs.

Thomas Howard is playing the best football of his career right now, even though he has not tallied as many interceptions as he had last season. He is flying to the football, making plays in the backfield and last weekend, Howard picked off his first pass in 2008.

What to Expect:

What was impressive last weekend was how the Raiders held the Broncos to only 48 yards rushing in the 2^nd half and when they went ahead and made Denver one-dimensional, they forced turnovers and frustrated the opposing offense.

Larry Johnson has tormented the Raiders in the past, but in their first meeting they held him to 22 yards on 12 carries. Can they do it again?

On Special Teams:

You can make the case that Johnnie Lee Higgins has been the Raiders most valuable player in 2008. He has only 8 receptions, but one of those was a game altering 84-yard touchdown reception in the 4^th quarter versus Buffalo.

But where he has made his mark is on punt returns, where in recent weeks he has shifted the momentum of games with returns of 93 yards for a score in Miami and 89 yards right before halftime against the Broncos.

The Chiefs are allowing 10.3 yards per return on punts and 24.2 yards per on kickoffs.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

On Offense:

Tyler Thigpen is at the helm of the Chiefs offense. In their first meeting, Thigpen was 14-of-33 for 151 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception while being sacked three times. He has started the last 5 contests for Kansas City and during that span; Thigpen has been sacked 13 times.

Larry Johnson needs to get going if they expect to pull out the road victory. Last weekend, he had a 63-yard run and had 81 yards on 7 carries. Rookie rusher Jamaal Charles could be an under the radar talent that could help cause match-up problems. During their 54-31 loss to Buffalo, Charles tallied his first career touchdown reception from 36 yards out.

What to Expect:

The Raiders allow 160 yards per game on the ground. And even though they’ve played well recently in the trenches, Kansas City’s best bet will be to try to pound away at the Raiders defensive line and stay away from their athletic secondary. The Chiefs are averaging a second best 4.9 yards per carry. Now, if they can sustain drives with their rush and keep Thigpen out of long down and distances, they may have a shot at pulling off the upset.

On Defense:

The Chiefs may have a depleted unit on Sunday. After allowing 54-points last weekend, Herm Edwards said yesterday that four regulars were unable to practice this week and that two others were limited.

“We’ll have 11 (players),” Edwards said of his defense’s travel unit. “Don’t know which 11, but we’ll have 11.”

In the secondary, safety Jarrad Page (groin) and cornerback Patrick Surtain (quad) are banged up. Linebacker Pat Thomas (thigh) is expected to be ready, but his unit mates Donnie Edwards (knee and ankle) and Weston Dacus (knee) were two players that did not practice on Thursday.

GAME NOTES

• Kansas City has lost 19 out of their last 20 games.
• Oakland will look for back-to-back victories against divisional rivals. Last year, they pulled off the feat by beating the Chiefs on the road 20-17 (11/25/2007) and the Broncos at home 34-20 (12/2/2007). The Chiefs have a six game wining streak in Oakland.
• Transactions this week: On 11/26, the Raiders signed G Dylan Gandy and placed WR Javon Walker on injured reserve. On 11/25, they signed DB Darrick Brown onto the active roster and waived OL Junius Coston.
• The Raiders have lost 9 of their 11 contests against the Chiefs. Kansas City also leads the all-time series 50-44-2.

KEY MATCH-UPS

Tony Gonzalez vs. the Raiders Secondary

The hall of fame bound tight end has a reception streak of 126 games and he set a record for tight ends last weekend with his 25^th career 100-yard receiving game. Will Michael Huff be on the field against the veteran? Huff has had success in the past due to his size and speed.

Raiders front seven vs. LJ & JC

Larry Johnson and Jamaal Charles are capable of big games. And with the suspect Raiders run defense, they could rack up big yardage.

PREDICTION

Raiders 26 – Chiefs 24

TV & RADIO

The game will be televised on CBS with Bill Macatee providing play-by-play and Steve Beuerlein handling color analysis. The game will air locally on KPIX Channel 5. The game will also air in Sacramento on KOVR Channel 13 as well as on KHSL in Chico, KION in Monterey and KJEO in Fresno. The game will air on Raiders Radio originating on KSFO 560 AM, the Silver and Black Flagship for the multi-state Radio Network. Greg Papa and former Raiders player, assistant and head coach Tom Flores will man the booth for the 12th straight year. The radio pregame show and postgame show will feature Raider Legends George Atkinson and David Humm along with KGO’s Rich Walcoff. (Broadcast information can be found on the official Raiders web site)

GAME INFO

Home Team: Oakland Raiders (3-8) Home: 1-4 Road: 2-4

Road Team: Kansas City Chiefs (1-10) Home: 1-5 Road: 0-5

When and Where: Sunday, November 30, 2008, 1:15 p.m. PT | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, OAK, CA

Training Camp Notes (7/26/08)

• Darren McFadden ripped off yet another run for what would have been a touchdown when he was allowed to bounce out to the edge. Speed kills!
• Running back Michael Bush fumbled after being stripped when he was trying to fight through a scrum. In all actuality, he would have been tackled if it were a real game. Instead, play was allowed to continue and the defense recovered it.
• Justin Fargas put on a clinic as he changed directions and made several guys miss for large gains.
• JaMarcus Russell was intercepted by Michael Huff on a forced rollout.
• Chaz Schilens schooled DeAngelo Hall for a would be touchdown.
• The offensive line experienced some difficulties today as mostly the tackles kept being penalized for false starts. The coaches made them run laps for the costly errors.
• The defensive ends were having a definite advantage over their offensive counterparts as they were beating their men and flushing out the quarterbacks.
• Wide receiver Javon Walker showed his toughness by receiving a shoulder pad sandwich from two converging defenders and was able to hold on to the pass. Walker would immediately get up and finish by running forty yards.
• Linebacker Robert Thomas made an interception.
• Wide receiver Drew Carter showed he has good hands by securely holding on to a pass while he had a defender draped on his back and swatting at the ball.
• Trevor Scott is making a strong case for a roster spot by demonstrating his ability to utilize excellent usages of angles to attack his offensive counterparts.
• Defensive end Kalimba Edwards was able to beat Paul McQuistan off the edge. Edwards also looked much better than he did at the last OTA’s.
• Wide Receiver Todd Watkins continued to put pressure on the other receivers who are gunning for that #2 and #3 WR spot by showing off his consistency and route running.
• Kwame Harris was out today with a strained back.
• Greg Wesley and Grant Irons were out for today’s workout. Head Coach Lane Kiffin was unsure when they would return.
• Lane Kiffin hopes that setting up a single quarterback for a set offensive squad (offensive line) will remedy the false starts plaguing them right now.
• Kiffin made note of free safety Michael Huff shadowing newly acquired Gibril Wilson and is paying off. Wilson is rubbing off on Huff, as he’s learning everything he can from the Super Bowl winning safety.