Oakland Raiders Ink Kirk Morrison and Another Draft Day Surprise?

Before we jump off into rumor central and the latest draft discussion talk, let’s get up to speed on some news and notes from the silver and black.  Linebacker Kirk Morrison has signed his offer sheet with the Raiders. Morrison led the team in tackles for five straight seasons, yet he had no takers on the free-agent market.

According to NFL.com, the Raiders are looking at snaring free-agent cornerback Lito Sheppard. The news doesn’t come as a surprise, considering how Chris Johnson was more than disappointing last season. The former Jet and Eagle would conceivably be a nice upgrade to the Raiders’ secondary when paired with Nnamdi Asomugha.

Even though the Raiders lost out on the Donovan McNabb sweepstakes, Oakland is apparently among five teams still interested in the services of Jason Campbell.

Okay, duh…But has anything changed on that front?

Well, for starters, ESPN 980 in D.C. reported on April 5—a station that’s owned by Redskins owner Daniel Snyder—that it’s only a matter of time before Campbell gets traded.

Curious why Snyder’s station is putting forth that type of info, maybe to generate a market for Campbell?  Among the teams interested in Campbell are: Carolina, Oakland, Buffalo, Jacksonville, and a mysterious unknown team.

To help his cause for relocation, Campbell signed the Redskins one-year offer on Monday. This obviously will allow the team to instigate a possible trade, if in fact, there is one.

What’s it going to take to get Campbell? Sports Illustrated’s Peter King thinks Campbell could be had for a mere fifth-round pick. I think he’s a younger version of McNabb—if I’m Al Davis, I get on the horn with Bruce Allen yesterday and make this deal happen.

With the NFL Draft right around the corner, the pick that seems most logical for the Raiders, is the back-flipping defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, of South Florida. He’s easily the most athletic looking specimen available—luckily for the Raiders—he’s also a highly rated pass-rushing prospect. On the upside, I put him somewhere between Javon Kearse and Mario Williams.

It now appears that a trio of offensive tackles (Trent Williams, Russell Okung, and Bryan Bulaga) has separated from the herd.

Washington will take Williams at No. 4. Kansas City will gladly welcome Russell Okung over safety Eric Berry, and Seattle will tap Iowa’s Bulaga.

Cleveland has its sights set on Berry and the Raiders will then have to decide on Notre Dame’s Clausen, Tennessee's run-stuffing tackle Dan Williams, or pass rusher extraordinaire, Pierre-Paul. 

Raider fans is Pierre-Paul another first-round whiff or a clear home run?