The Oakland Raiders have decided to place their franchise tag on safety Tyvon Branch for the 2012 season. A player deemed to be given the franchise tag earns the average of the five highest-paid players at their position, earning Branch a reported $6.2 million should he sign the one-year tender. Branch was initially drafted by the Raiders in the fourth round of...

Dennis Allen addressed the media gathered at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis on Friday afternoon. He acknowledged the difficulties putting together a staff and the obstacles that come with trying to acquire specific assistants. “Well, I think one of the things that you find out as a head football coach is that it’s difficult to put together a good staff,...

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that cutting cornerback Stanford Routt will cost the Oakland Raiders $2.2 million in salary-cap space in 2012. This will force the Silver & Black to go bargain shopping for help in the defensive backfield. One name that immediately comes into mind is Tracy Porter, who played for Dennis Allen in New Orleans and will be an...

Here are five things on the to-do list for new Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen and general manager Reggie McKenzie. Empower Carson Palmer The coach and general manager did that on Monday. “Carson Palmer is extremely excited about what we have going here,” Allen said. “He’s looking forward to the future and he’s excited about the opportunities...

Aside from finding a head coach, Reggie McKenzie has a few important free-agent decisions he has to make… One of them being, what to do with running back Michael Bush? He’s going to be 28 in June, but with little wear and tear on his body, the ball carrier could be an enticing option for teams looking to bolster their ground game. This past year, he tallied...