The Daily Blog 9/7/09

Imagine Richard Seymour playing for the Oakland Raiders.

Granted, that's now a reality, but hear me out on this. Pretend he's been in Oakland doing all the same things we watched him do here. Pretend that they revere him out there the same way we did while he was wearing a Patriot uniform. Heck, even pretend that you can give people 5 reasons why he wasn't overrated and worth every penny he was ever given as a member of the Patriots.

Now ask yourself, would you give up a 1st round pick to get him?

Good, I'm not the only one wondering this.

Strangely enough, Al Davis apparently thought this was a good enough value to pull the trigger and bring the All-Pro to Oakland. If I'm Bill Belichick I'm trying to hold back my excitement during my conversation with Davis before he comes to his senses and realizes that maybe a 2nd or 3rd round pick would have made more sense.

After all, Seymour (29) is in the final year of his contract and considering how bad things are in Oakland, that pick in 2011 could potentially be a top 15 selection. We all know the type of stability he could bring to their defensive line, but that seems to be a huge price to pay. Don't get me wrong, I've always felt Seymour was a guy who was underappreciated while he was here. Each game he always found ways to make plays despite the fact he was generally facing more than one blocker and always someone opposing offenses needed to account for. His loss is significant, and if I'm a Raiders fan I'm feeling much better about my run defense.

But a first round pick? I don't quite know about that, and I'm having my doubts whether that crazy old man did the right thing, and I'm even possibly starting some sort of movement to have Davis stopped from any further decision-making with my team.

How Seymour transitions into that defense out in Oakland should be interesting, provided he can get past the circus and all the other nonsense that seems to go on out there. After the whole incident between head coach Tom Crable and Randy Hanson, where Crable punched Hanson in the jaw and sent him to the hospital, I'm wondering how the whole morale situation is in general. I'm wondering what it's going to be like to be in team meetings because I don't know if I could work in somewhere for/with a guy who punched me in the face. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think I could.

They play in a bad division, (the San Diego Chargers got into the playoffs at 8-8 last year) so I guess depending on how things go anything can happen. But is he enough to help get them to the playoffs? I just don't know.

Seymour will help them, there's no question about that, and they definitely need it. The Raiders have been terrible against the run over the years, having never been better than 22nd since 2003 in run defense. Unfortunately it also takes more than one guy to make an impact, and Oakland doesn't exactly have the players to make plays should Seymour face the same double teams and blocking schemes he did here.

Personally, I think this is a tremendous deal for the Patriots, which by 2011 should set them up nicely for the future. Give Belichick credit for knowing that obviously something had to give and a decision needed to be made. He's got other younger guys in Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren, etc. to try and keep intact, and hopefully that was a reason why this deal was consumated. If that's the case, now he's also even got a first round selection to go along with it.

Out in Oakland, oddly enough they seem to be excited. But I guess if things have been that bad for so long, I suppose you would cling to any glimmer of hope your organization can give you. Just tell me how they're feeling in 2011 as the whole first round ticks away and they don't have anyone to show for it. Then we'll find out just how good a deal they think it was.

Quick Hits

I think it's funny that Eric Mangini is trying to create a lot of drama out in Cleveland by not naming his starting quarterback. He even has every depth chart on the team's official website listed except for that one. As if all of a sudden teams won't be able figure out how to plan on how to defend for Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson. He just feels like the poster child of someone looking for attention, I don't quite get it.
Call me crazy, but I don't see this one making it the entire week before one of the players leaks it.

Good news for Patriots fans who watched that emotional press conference that took place a week ago when linebacker Tedy Bruschi announced his retirement from the NFL. The Boston Herald reported this morining that Bruschi is going to be part of ESPN's football lineup.

According to the report Bruschi's role will see him appearing both on television and on radio, and he's also said to be providing analysis for its new ESPNBoston.com website. With Mike Reiss recently announced as headed to ESPN and this new online site, there are now two great reasons to read it.

That's it for today. The weather is great and my wife and I are headed out to enjoy it. Hope all of you enjoy your day and we'll see you tomorrow.