All the familiar faces were in Alameda for the first day of offseason workouts Monday, though some were far more unexpected than others.
Take kick returner Justin Miller. The Raiders re-signed him, only they didn't announce the news. Same goes for backup defensive tackle William Joseph, who also came to work Monday when hardly anyone outside the building knew he still had a job there.
"They must not have put it out there yet, I guess," Miller said when he got to the team facility early Monday morning.
Consider this all part Tom Cable's master plan in his first offseason as head coach. Not so much the hush-hush operation, but how the Raiders are sticking with their own after blowing wads of cash on the open market last year.
In the past month, they have re-signed 12 of their players. The number of free agents signed from other teams: two.
So, when Cable kept telling everyone he liked last year's roster, he wasn't kidding.
"That's what I said all along," Cable said after arriving to work Monday. "I like who we are. They're going to continue to grow and get better. The biggest key for us was getting the core of this team re-signed. That, coupled with the guys already under contract, makes for a really, really good foundation.
"The more time they're together, the better they're going to become."
Cable was thrilled by the sight of so many young players arriving first thing in the a.m., on a voluntary basis, no less.
Third-year left tackle Mario Henderson was seen cruising into the parking lot at 7:37 a.m. He was followed by Trevor Scott, Jon Condo, Ricky Brown, Jon Alston, John Bowie, Marcel Reece - all players with three or fewer years of experience.
(Brown, Condo and Alston each recently re-signed with the Raiders as restricted a free agent, news that also has gone unannounced).
Even some established players joined the early crowd, including starting linebackers Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison, and cornerback Chris Johnson.
"There's probably some different things we're going to do and I just want to be here and take it all in," Howard said.
If there any more changes to the roster, it will be with a few targeted free-agent moves - the Raiders are still negotiating with Bills center Duke Preston - and with the draft in April.
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