Nnamdi signs his tender

[Langlier]

per rotoworld/SI

Nnamdi Asomugha-DB- Raiders Jul. 23 - 9:38 pm et


Raiders signed franchise player Nnamdi Asomugha to a one-year, $9.765 million contract.

So much for the holdout. No one expected Asomugha to show up at Napa Valley for the start of camp, but he'll be in pads Thursday. "I'm going to go in to camp focused and play the year out and see what happens," said the ultimate team player. Asomugha doesn't see enough balls his way to have IDP value because he's the NFL's premier lockdown corner, but he makes everyone around him better. The Raiders were truly foolish to give DeAngelo Hall the deal they did and leave Asomugha hanging.

[BigTron]

per rotoworld/SI

Nnamdi Asomugha-DB- Raiders Jul. 23 - 9:38 pm et


Raiders signed franchise player Nnamdi Asomugha to a one-year, $9.765 million contract.

So much for the holdout. No one expected Asomugha to show up at Napa Valley for the start of camp, but he'll be in pads Thursday. "I'm going to go in to camp focused and play the year out and see what happens," said the ultimate team player. Asomugha doesn't see enough balls his way to have IDP value because he's the NFL's premier lockdown corner, but he makes everyone around him better. The Raiders were truly foolish to give DeAngelo Hall the deal they did and leave Asomugha hanging.

Good news. We can franchise him again next year if we cant resign him. The DeAngelo Hall contract is fine as long as we also keep ASO.

[007]

Good news.

We've got Aso for this year and next, giving us a hell of a lot of time to make a deal.

[Swords]

"I'm going to go in to camp focused and play the year out and see what happens," said the ultimate team player. Asomugha doesn't see enough balls his way to have IDP value because he's the NFL's premier lockdown corner, but he makes everyone around him better. The Raiders were truly foolish to give DeAngelo Hall the deal they did and leave Asomugha hanging.

I hate to be a dickhead BUT If he was the ultimate team player he would have signed the tender long ago.

[raider60]

I hate to be a dickhead BUT If he was the ultimate team player he would have signed the tender long ago.

Maybe so, but he--like a lot of players probably would--could have held out during training camp. That he's showing up for TC, to me, shows leadership, something that defense and that team needs--

[Langlier]

I hate to be a dickhead BUT If he was the ultimate team player he would have signed the tender long ago.

actually I disagree. the moment he signs his tender he needs to be accounted for on the books. which means less $$ for free agency. he signed at the perfect time - after the main bout of FA but before he misses any time

[jatfly]

Glad to see him not pull any prima donna BS. I know that not him but sometimes these guys get wrapped up with their agents and listen to the media blow smoke up their asses. We need to get him locked up long term. With him and Hall this secondary will be top 5 in the league as long as we get good S play!!!

[massraider]

Glad to see him not pull any prima donna BS.

Makes it even more sickening that we didn't re-up him.

The guy is a cornerstone. Championship teams have guys like Scrabble on them. He should be signed through 2013.

[RZ]

Yall forgot to mention the followup story......

Raiders To Trade Asomugha

Nnamdi Asomugha has demanded a trade citing problems with management. It's speculated that between the tenuous situation between owner Al Davis and soon to be former Head Coach Lane Kiffin, and the team spending large amounts of money on other players such as fellow CB DeAngelo Hall, Asomugha has become fed up with the Oakland Raiders organization.

Al Davis is intent on now packaging Asomugha, Kiffin, and Lamont Jordan in a trade to pick up a backup kicker, in order to save face and try to come away not looking too bad.

Reporting on this story was done by Adam Schefter who has made a career of making up bullshit stories, and continues to disparage the Raiders becuase he still dreams of being Mike Shannahan's secret gay lover.

[Crow]

per rotoworld/SI

Nnamdi Asomugha-DB- Raiders Jul. 23 - 9:38 pm et


Raiders signed franchise player Nnamdi Asomugha to a one-year, $9.765 million contract.

So much for the holdout. No one expected Asomugha to show up at Napa Valley for the start of camp, but he'll be in pads Thursday. "I'm going to go in to camp focused and play the year out and see what happens," said the ultimate team player. Asomugha doesn't see enough balls his way to have IDP value because he's the NFL's premier lockdown corner, but he makes everyone around him better. The Raiders were truly foolish to give DeAngelo Hall the deal they did and leave Asomugha hanging.
Gospel.

Well, at least we've finally made a meaningful signing.

[Crow]

I hate to be a dickhead BUT If he was the ultimate team player he would have signed the tender long ago.

Why would he sign that tender when his agent and the team were, supposedly, negotiating a better contract? Kinda fucks up his leverage, wouldn't you think?

Signing it today or a month ago. Makes no difference. It only became relevant today, and he wasted no time signing it and getting onto the practice field. Can't fault him in the least.

[SoCalRaider]

Nancy Gay on the NFL: Asomugha takes the high road to camp
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/24/SPF311UULB.DTL&type=printable
Nancy Gay, San Francisco Chronicle

Thursday, July 24, 2008
Nnamdi Asomugha works out with the team in Napa on Thursd...

(07-24) 21:11 PDT -- As training camps begin across the league, it's time to give it up for Nnamdi Asomugha, the antithesis of what most NFL franchise players have become.

The Raiders cornerback could have followed long-standing team protocol and made himself an absolute pain in the butt the next three weeks.

He could have ignored that $9.765 million exclusive franchise tender offer until September.

He could have complained loudly through his agent or the media that the Raiders were disrespecting him by failing to deliver long-term contract security, all the while handing over millions to other defensive players (Tommy Kelly, Terdell Sands) who haven't proved they can start 16 games, much less earn a Pro Bowl berth.

Asomugha could have missed every tedious, sweaty preseason workout in Napa and Alameda as well as all four exhibition games and simply strolled into the locker room in Alameda on Sept. 1, knowing that his nearly $9.8 million contract becomes guaranteed coin as soon as he signs it.

Instead, he bucked convention. In recent years, the opening of Raiders training camp has given us 100-decibel distractions such as Charles Woodson's annual franchise tag protest or Jerry Porter's "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase gold money belt and accompanying Art Shell vendetta.

Asomugha is doing all his teammates, his coaches, the Raiders organization and every fan a huge service.

He's being a pro.

How novel.

"I think it's a statement about who he is. Obviously he didn't have to be here," coach Lane Kiffin said Thursday before the Raiders' first practice. "He could have stayed out of camp, and for him to be here the first day to run the conditioning test with us today, shows what a team player he is and who he is."

The Raiders realize their 19-61 legacy since the Super Bowl XXXVII loss can no longer be written off as an aberration.

Check that - Kiffin realizes that.

So does Asomugha.

After the Raiders let the July 15 deadline pass to sign him to a long-term contract - the two sides cannot strike a new deal until the end of the 2008 season - Asomugha conceded he was disappointed. He saw other players get big money (Kelly $18.125 million guaranteed; Sands, a $4 million bonus).

Monday night, he decided he would report on time anyway. He arrived in Napa at midnight Wednesday, and immediately signed his tender as the clock ticked into the wee hours of Thursday morning.

"I am 100 percent a human being, so there was a piece of me in the beginning that was wondering what was going on," Asomugha said about watching others getting the payday he deserves. "You kind of look and wonder, 'OK, maybe it's your turn, maybe it's not.'

"But after awhile, a short while, you realize that what's for you is for you; what's for them is for them. No two people are the same in this league."

Like Kiffin, Asomugha sounds like a guy who is serious about changing the culture in the Raiders organization.

That means more enthusiasm, more effort, less griping and more accountability for mistakes and for responsibility. That means more players like Asomugha leading by example, and fewer guys complaining about their paycheck, playing time or referee conspiracy theories.

Derrick Burgess, who set the Raiders' club record for sacks with an NFL-best 16 in 2005, still hasn't had his original contract redone. He's the fourth-highest paid lineman on defense.

But he was busting his tail Thursday, just like Asomugha. He could have refused to report because that promise of a new contract is three years overdue.

"That ain't me. I earn my money," said Burgess, who called Asomugha's decision to report, "impressive."

Certainly Asomugha's arrival, as well as Burgess' quiet work ethic, can only help Kiffin's quest to remake a bitter, dysfunctional franchise formerly populated by me-first players. They don't whine. They don't hold out. They perform.

For now, so do the Raiders. "I think we work better. I think our players are more positive in the way they go about things. They don't look to the negative as much as when we got here," Kiffin said. "There was so much negativity when we got here, so much losing, so much the players were always complaining about this or whining about that. And I think we've gotten rid of a lot of that."

If Asomugha blows out a knee in training camp, he still gets his '08 money and yeah, it's a lot. But after that, who knows? There is risk in putting himself through camp drills that expose him to injury.

"Absolutely. And that's why, when I was talking to a lot of the players, that they were so surprised that I came," said Asomugha, who punctuated his arrival by intercepting an Andrew Walter pass and returning it for a touchdown. "But at the same time they weren't because they know it's not about money for me. I really want to win games. That's a big part of why I'm here.

"It's putting that on the line, that you could get hurt, and those types of things. But it's in the name of being a cohesive unit and coming together and trying to win football games."

E-mail Nancy Gay at ngay@sfchronicle.com.

[Raidermania12]

Players being serious about winning is a good thing. It's all gotta come together first though. My sole worry is the youth at QB and RB. We can be a playoff team under the circumstances, but it's going tyo take alot of coaching on Kiffin's part to keep the younger guys in line with the gameplan.

[Postmaster]

http://www.ktvu.com/video/16983388/index.html

Nnamdi interview. This guy is first class.