Al Davis always had always had a simple motto for his teams: just win baby.
Davis passed away a couple weeks ago at the age of 82 after many years as the face of the Oakland Raiders organization. Oakland won three Super Bowls and five championship games during his tenure with the Raiders. But after the 2002 season where Oakland lost to Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl the Raiders haven’t had a winning season. Almost two decades have passed since that Super Bowl, as the Raiders have been characterized by mediocrity and embarrassment since.
Unfortunately for Davis, he leaves behind a 4-2 Raider squad that looks to be on the rise. They’ve become more competitive in the last couple years, but haven’t had enough talent or gas in the tank to make a serious run at the playoffs.
The recent acquisition of Carson Palmer just may be the missing piece that the Raider’s have desperately needed, given that they haven’t had a stable quarterback since the Rich Gannon era.
Before being traded to Oakland, Palmer had an ugly ending with the Cincinnati Bengals and owner Mike Brown.
“I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again,” Palmer said this past offseason. “I have $80 million in the bank. I don’t have to play football for money. I’ll play it for the love of the game, but that would have to be elsewhere.”
Palmer later said that if the Bengals weren’t going to trade him he would retire. Brown was stubborn on the subject, and although he knew the Palmer’s days in Cincinnati were over, he refused to trade him.
“Carson signed a contract,” Brown said. “He made a commitment. He gave his word. We relied on his word. We relied on his commitment. We expected him to perform here. He’s going to walk away from his commitment. We aren’t going to reward him for doing it.”
But a lot has transpired since that feud began.
The Bengals drafted TCU quarterback Andy Dalton in this year’s NFL draft, and Dalton looks to have a bright future in the NFL. Dalton has led the Bengals to a surprising 4-2 record starting the season as a rookie quarterback.
It’s uncertain if Dalton’s success had an effect on the organization’s rationale to trade Palmer, but regardless of why the trade occurred, Oakland will embrace him with open arms.
Hopefully for Oakland’s sake, Palmer can still play like his earlier days in Cincinnati. They must have faith in that idea, considering that they gave up a first-round draft pick in 2012 and a conditional second-round pick in 2013. At age 32, Palmer has also had injury problems in the past that Oakland should be wary about. He had surgery on his knee in 2006 and suffered an elbow injury in 2008.
Unfortunately for Jason Campbell, it looks like his stint with Oakland is over. Campbell was having a good season with the Raiders that abruptly ended when he broke his collarbone Sunday against Cleveland. The injury will probably keep Campbell off the field for about six weeks, but Oakland felt they had to make an immediate move to replace him.
Although Campbell was having a decent season, the Raiders fans must be pretty fired up to have a quarterback that is capable of putting up big points.
In seven seasons as a starting NFL quarterback, Palmer has thrown for over 22,000 yards and 150 touchdowns. He’s also been selected to two Pro Bowls and won the Heisman trophy in college. Palmer has a great arm and can make big passes down the field. He was very successful with big time receivers Chad Ochocinco and TJ Houshmandzadeh during his time in Cincinnati.
Outside of Darren McFadden, Oakland doesn’t have any big time playmakers on offense, but Denarius Moore and Darrius Heyward-Bey are young receivers who have the potential to emerge as playmakers.
If a 4-2 record for Oakland didn’t garner much attention, then the trade for Palmer did.
The costly trade for the quarterback shows that Raiders head coach Hue Jackson is doing everything he can to “just win baby.” Whether the trade will be a success or a flop remains to be seen, but one thing is evident, the Raiders are all in this year.
