FanHouse NnamdiAsomugha

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

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Running game that needs help from the passing game. One thing is for sure, the Oakland Raiders can run the football. They finished 10th in the NFL last season in rushing offense. The problem is that they only had nine rushing touchdowns (only three teams had less), which we can attribute to the fact that the Raiders had the worst passing offense in the NFL.

If the Raiders can find a way to stretch the field and move the ball through the air, expect the rushing game to get even better.

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Earlier this week, EA Sports released the player ratings for Madden 10. And now, with the NFL Draft in the rearview, and nothing else to do between now and training camps, we'll ponder the important questions. Like: How is [Player who is obviously rated too high] rated above [Player who is obviously rated too low]?

It's fun and original!

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Oakland Raiders are coming off their sixth straight losing season and will be entering 2009 with their fifth different head coach in seven years.

For the second consecutive offseason, the Raiders have spent a gargantuan amount of money on cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Chris Johnson, and punter Shane Lechler. The Raiders also find themselves in their customary spot in the top 10 of the NFL draft, and their biggest need is pretty obvious.

Thanks to the NFL's most recent television deal, very few teams have had trouble in recent years getting under the salary cap. But it should become even easier in 2009 now that the league has announced that the cap will be $127 million this year, $4 million higher than what was expected.

The teams had been told to expect the cap to rise to $123 million, up from $116.2 million in 2008. That was already a big enough bump that most teams were millions under the cap. Even before the recent wave of cuts and Brett Favre's retirement, only six teams had more than $120 million in cap commitments. Now, nearly every team in the league will have millions to spend even after setting aside money for their draft picks. In the case of the Chiefs, they have more than $40 million in cap room.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The 2008 season might go down as one of the most bizarre campaigns in the history of the Oakland Raiders. Lane Kiffin and Al Davis clearly didn't get along, while Kiffin pulled off the impossible task of making Davis look like a sane, rational person.

A team spokesperson nearly decked a beat writer; the punter was, reportedly, punched out by a defensive lineman; and the team on the field finished with a losing season, failing to win more than five games for the sixth consecutive year. Just a disastrous season in every way imaginable.

In news that would be nothing short of a shock, it appears as if the Oakland Raiders are closing in on a long-term contract extension with Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. It's long been assumed that the Raiders would have to use the franchise tag on him for a second straight year, but the two sides are apparently close to a contract extension.

Earlier in the day, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee offered up a quick report that a deal could be close. Now, Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated claims Asomugha's agent, Tom Condon, has already forwarded a potential contract to the NFL for approval.

Heading into this offseason the Oakland Raiders had two key free agents: cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and punter Shane Lechler. Al Davis made it clear that if he was going to use his one franchise tag on anybody, it would be one of those two players.

Turns out, he's not going to need to use it on Lechler, as the two sides have come to an agreement on a four-year contract extension, according to NFL.com's Adam Schefter. The deal is worth $12 million, which would make him the highest-paid punter in the league.

On Thursday Al Davis prevented one of his starting cornerbacks from hitting unrestricted free agency, though it's probably not the one Raiders fans were hoping to have signed.

David White of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Raiders and cornerback Chris Johnson have come to an agreement on a four-year contract extension. Johnson was set to become an unrestricted free agent on February 27. Terms of the deal have not been announced.

Franchise tags and salary-cap concerns play a very important role in real-world wheelings and dealings, but what if the biggest-named free agents were matched with the teams that gave them the best chance to make a Super Bowl run? What would that list look like? Glad you asked.

Yes, this is a strictly fictional account, one that requires you to suspend reality for the next few minutes. But, hey, it's the NFL offseason, which means that there won't be any meaningful football for another seven months. What else do you have to do?

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis has already made it known that he plans to use his exclusive rights franchise tag on one of Nnamdi Asomugha or Shane Lechler. It's the only way he'll be able to keep either player, as both would probably be willing to bolt the dysfunctional land of Raider nation for greener pastures (and competitive football).

In Lechler's case, he would probably like to leave so he can avoid getting punched in the face by defensive linemen. According to David White of the San Francisco Chronicle, Lechler, the Raiders' punter for the past nine years, was on the receiving end of a Terdell Sands punch to the face following the team's 31-10 win against division-rival Denver on November 23. How's that for celebrating a 21-point win?