(02-21) 18:39 PST -- The cynic - and you know who you are, pal - would say Al Davis did the bare minimum he could do in signing Nnamdi Asomugha to a three-year deal.
Had Davis franchised Asomugha, as many thought he would do, the Raiders would have sunk completely into the Black Hole. If you turn your best player and most-solid citizen into a disgruntled prisoner, while giving monstrous contracts to stiffs and miscreants, you have surrendered all relevance. You and your team are a joke.
So Davis had to sign Asomugha. However, give Al credit.
Davis drafted free safety Asomugha out of Cal, converted him to a cornerback (much to Nnamdi's dismay), and stuck by him for two seasons when the Raiders coaches were writing the kid off as a bust. Davis also managed to maintain a working relationship with Asomugha.
"Our relationship has always been pretty good," Asomugha told me a few weeks ago, even though he was almost sure he would be franchised again. "I think I understand him and he understands me ... We sit down and we talk freely. I don't hold anything back and neither does he."
You've heard of the concept of guilt by association? For Davis, this is a case of sanity by association.
Original Story:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...
