Oakland Raiders, Woodson to rejoin team!

The Raiders and Charles Woodson aren't any closer to ending their impasse, but Woodson will end his holdout and join his teammates sometime next week, the cornerback's agent said Tuesday.
Woodson is working out twice a day in Houston and champing at the bit to get back on the field, agent Carl Poston said.
"The longer it takes, the more it's eating at him," Poston said in a rare interview. "He's in great shape. He's doing two-a-days that are well beyond what (his teammates) are doing in their two-a-days."
Woodson has missed 27 days of training camp and both of Oakland's exhibition games in hopes of securing the long-term contract he has sought for three years, Poston said.
The Raiders made Woodson their exclusive franchise player Feb. 21. By doing so, they are obligated to pay him the average of the top five cornerback salaries for 2004. That one-year tender translates to $8,782,400. In exchange, the Raiders get sole negotiating rights.
Raiders senior personnel executive Mike Lombardi said Aug. 11 that the team offered Woodson a contract shortly after the 2003 season ended that exceeds the reported seven-year, $63 million contract given to Denver cornerback Champ Bailey this spring.
"If they're making that offer, I assume we'll start from that point," Poston said.
Woodson has said numerous times that he wants to be the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
He can't achieve that goal until he signs the one-year tender for $8.78 million, as set forth in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Only then can work begin on a long-term contract.
"Per league rules Charles has to sign the one-year tender," Lombardi said Tuesday. "When Charles gets here, we'll proceed to work on a long-term contract."
Poston said Woodson is willing to sign the one-year tender provided the Raiders promise to negotiate in good faith on a long-term contract.
"I need an assurance, and Charles needs an assurance that the Raiders are going to work diligently on putting together a long-term deal," Poston said. "I have a hard time believing in their diligence when they haven't done anything for three years."
The Raiders selected Woodson with the fourth overall pick in the NFL draft in 1998. He signed a six-year deal that expired at the end of last season.
Poston said he approached the Raiders about extending Woodson's contract after his client finished his fourth season with a fourth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance. Subsequent overtures in 2002 and 2003 also fell on deaf ears.
"They told me in (2002) that they'd redo the deal," Poston said. "Now, it's year seven. He deserves it. Charles is losing patience. It's time to get this thing done."
Woodson is seeking a seven-year deal that guarantees him at least $32 million over the next three years, according to a league source.
Poston said Woodson deserves a deal comparable to the one received by Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning. The Colts gave Manning a seven-year, $98 million contract that includes a league-record $34.5 million signing bonus.
Poston said he isn't saying Woodson is a quarterback, but that the comparison comes from Woodson and Manning entering the league at the same time, both being exclusive franchise designees, and Woodson's status as one of the game's elite defensive players.
"Peyton Manning is not worth $20 million more than Charles Woodson," Poston said.
Woodson proved his worth in recent seasons, Poston said, by playing hurt, helping lead the Raiders to the Super Bowl -- Manning has yet to reach the Super Bowl -- and showing he can shut down top wide receivers such as Minnesota's Randy Moss.
"I tell them, 'You guys have a star player who has been underpaid for a long time,'" Poston said. "But they don't want to recognize how good Charles is. Charles is a star player, and he deserve to be paid like one. It's up to them, but he'll be in sometime next week."
Coach Norv Turner said he has not spoken with Woodson since training camp began July 29. He said Monday that Woodson needs to return soon or else risk not leaving himself ample time to learn defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's new scheme.
"Obviously, the longer it goes, the harder it is," Turner said. "I've been in situations where a guy came in and, in a week, was able to contribute and play. But that was a situation where the guy had been in the same system and knew the calls, knew everything."
Veteran defensive back Ray Buchanan said he spoke with Woodson on Friday night. Woodson assured Buchanan that he would report ready to play.
Buchanan spent most of the past nine seasons at cornerback. He now plays free safety. Missing so much time won't hurt Woodson as much as it might someone who plays another position, Buchanan said.
"At the cornerback position, you can just have a safety tell you what to do," Buchanan said.
Former Raiders free safety Rod Woodson echoed that sentiment.
"It's a corner," Rod Woodson said last season. "You play man to man, you play zone. ... Whoo, whoo. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to play cornerback."
Even so, Turner said, Woodson has plenty to learn.
"The big thing is, the communications part of it," Turner said. "In the secondary, one missed check can result in a big play, and a big play at the wrong time can be a disaster."

posted by Anonymous @ 2:14 PM

|

---