Steve Corkran of the Contra Costa Times mentions that the Raiders will make re-signing S Tyvon Branch a priority this offseason.
Branch, 25, led the Raiders in tackles last season and could be in for an expanded role with the addition of Dennis Allen as head coach.
We have him listed as the #38 nest available free agent in out Top 50 Free Agents list.
Free Agent Targets
Corkran also provided a list of possible free agent targets for the Raiders. He sees Oakland having interest in Saints WR Marques Colston and CB Tracy Porter as well as Texans OLB Mario Williams.
This is obviously purely speculative as there haven’t been reports connecting the Raiders to these players.
Corkran mentions that WR Darrius Heyward-Bey is a No. 3 receiver and feels that the team could use an upgrade at the position.
He may be right about Heyward-Bey being a No. 3 receiver but it’s hard to imagine that they would spend their limited cash on the receiver position when they have much more pressing needs. Williams would be a great addition but he’ll get a monster deal if he’s available which will price the Raiders out of the market for his services. Harper seems like the most likely option of those mentioned.
Corkran adds that the Raiders will not be keeping WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh next season despite his relationship with Carson Palmer.
No real surprise here as Houshmandzadeh has been underwhelming in each of this last three stops.
Corkran sees RB Taiwan Jones as a “complementary back” in the long run.
Jones has great speed and showed some decent ability during the preseason but the Raiders will have to decide whether or not to keep Michael Bush. There have been trade rumors regarding Darren McFadden in the last week so Jones could get an opportunity to change peoples impression of him.
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Do you mean Saints CB Tracy Porter? Roman Harper is a safety, and is not a free agent.
You are correct. I actually looked at the tweets that were posted and he made the mistake there as well. I should have known that Porter’s the free agent, not Harper. Thanks for letting me know. Much appreciated.