Raiders Have Had Success With Free Agent QBs
The Las Vegas Raiders are expected to delve deeply into the National Football League’s free-agent market this season. Many observers believe quarterback Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the primary target in their sights.
Not only has Brady claimed seven Super Bowl rings during his brilliant career, but he also has a close relationship with Coach Josh McDaniels of the Raiders from their years together with the New England Patriots.
The free-agency signing period won’t begin until next month, so let’s first look back at the best free-agent signings the Raiders have made in their 64-year history.
Not surprisingly, since Al Davis was the owner of the Raiders for most of those years and he was a big advocate of the passing game, and five of the best free agent signed by the Silver and Black were quarterbacks—Jim Plunkett, Rich Gannon, Jeff Hostetler, Kerry Collins, and George Blanda.
Of course, Davis’ most memorable signing of quarterbacks came in 1967, when he was commissioner of the upstart American Football League during the Pro Football War with the established NFL.
All Davis did was go out and sign eight NFL starting quarterbacks, including John Brodie of the San Francisco 49ers and Roman Gabriel of the Los Angeles Rams, plus several other stars, including tight end Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears,, to AFL contracts.
Of course, all of those deals were nullified when the AFL-NFL merger was completed, but it gives you an idea of what Davis could do, as the multiple signings led directly to the merger.
“If Al Davis wanted you, it was hard to say no,” said one NFL star who asked not to be identified.
But that’s another story.
Perhaps Davis’ biggest coup was signing Plunkett, who won the 1970 Heisman Trophy at Stanford and was the No. 1 overall pick of the Patriots. Still, after struggling for seven seasons in New England and with the San Francisco 49ers, Plunk was a free agent in 1978.
“There was quite a bit of self-doubt,” Plunkett recalled. “It was probably the lowest point of my career. I certainly thought about quitting. However, Al Davis talked me into signing with the Raiders and obviously that made my career.”
Plunkett was beaten up physically and mentally, but Davis told him to get himself back together and not worry about playing right away because the Raiders had Kenny “Snake” Stabler at quarterback, and he led them to a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.
However, down the road, Plunkett, despite splitting time with other quarterbacks at times, led the Raiders to victories in Super Bowl XV, when he was named Most Valuable Player in a 27-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, and in Super Bowl XVIII, a 38-9 rout of the Washington Redskins.
The other quarterback, the Raiders, signed as a free agent who led them to the Super Bowl was journeyman Rich Gannon, who played 12 undistinguished seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, and Kansas City Chiefs before signing with the Silver and Black in 1999.
Gannon led the Raiders to a 41-23 record over the next four seasons, including 11-5 in 2002 to make the playoffs, where they defeated the New York Jets, 30-10, and the Tennessee Titans, 41-24, as Gannon passed for a total of five touchdowns in those post-season games.
However, All-Pro center Barret Robbins, the Raiders’ best player, had physical and mental problems and disappeared a few days before Super Bowl XXXVII at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego and headed for Tijuana, Mexico.
Even though Robbins returned on Saturday, he did not play, and the Raiders, who trounced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 45-0 the previous time they played in 1999, were themselves routed, 48-21, by the Bucs in the Super Bowl.
“In 1999, I was really a journeyman quarterback,” Gannon told the Associated Press. “I had played in the league 11 or 12 years and never really felt I was given an opportunity or chance to be an everyday player.
“In 1999, the Oakland Raiders, Mr. (Al) Davis and (Coach) Jon Gruden gave me that opportunity to be an everyday starter. I tried to make the most of that opportunity.”
Among the other best free-agent signings for the Raiders was tight end Todd Christensen, who was a fullback with the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants before signing with the Raiders in 1979. In 10 seasons, Christensen caught 461 passes for 5,872 yards and 41 touchdowns.
His numbers are better than several players in the Hall of Fame, as Christensen was named All-Pro five times, played in five Pro Bowls, led the NFL is receptions in 1983 and 1986 and played on the Super Bowl XV and XII champions.
“How did we forget Christensen?” NFL historian Jeff Taylor wrote when he was not mentioned on a list of some of the league’s best all-time free agents. “He deserves to be enshrined in (the Pro Football Hall of Fame), in Canton,Ohio.”
The Raiders also signed wide receiver Jerry Rice and safety Ronnie Lott late in their careers, but the future Hall of Famers had their greatest years with the San Francisco 49ers, and you can read all about them on another page.
Perhaps the most underrated Raiders free agent signing was kicker-quarterback George Blanda, who has a starting quarterback with the Chicago Bears and the Houston Oilers before he came to the Silver and Black.
Blanda, who incredibly played in the NFL until he was 48, was mostly a kicker with the Raiders, and the Hall of Famer made 156 field goals, 395-403 extra point attempts, and scored 863 points in his nine seasons with the Silver and Black.
In addition, Blanda passed for 1,835 yards and 23 touchdowns, some of them at key times, as a backup quarterback.
In 1970, Blanda had an incredible run of five straight games in which he came off the bench to lead the Raiders to a 4-0-1 record during an incredible five-week stretch.
Blanda passed for three touchdowns in a 31-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers; kicked a 48-yard field goal on the last play of the game to salvage a 17-17 tie with the Kansas City Chiefs; threw a 14-yard TD pass to Warren Wells in the final minutes and then kicked a 52-yard field goal to beat the Cleveland Browns, 23-20; threw a 24-yard scoring pass to Fred Biletnikoff in the final minutes to beat the Denver Broncos, 24-19, and threw two touchdowns to running back Charlie Smith before kicking two late field goals to turn back the San Diego Chargers, 20-17.
You can make a case that Blanda, for all that he did, was the best free agent ever signed by the Raiders.
The NFL Scouting Combine is scheduled for Feb. 28-March 6, 2023, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. March 7, 2023, before 4 p.m. EST, is the club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players.
March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period. During the time starting at 12 p.m. EST on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. EST on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4 p.m. EST on March 15.
The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EST on March 15. The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this season.
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