Feb. 26, 2008

Updated at 8:10 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 28

PFW reported that Raiders owner Al Davis was livid with coach Lane Kiffin after learning Kiffin had shown interest in vacant college jobs during 2007, getting the offseason off to a turbulent start in Oakland. It may be hard for the Raiders to lure free agents with a seemingly unstable situation in the club’s hierarchy. The Raiders placed the exclusive franchise tag on CB Nnamdi Asomugha. The five-year veteran is the only player to be given the “exclusive” tag this year, and the first since Colts DE Dwight Freeney was given the designation in February 2007. The exclusive franchise tag means Asomugha can’t even solicit offers from other teams, whereas non-exclusive franchise players can. Outside of working with Asomugha on a long-term deal, the club will focus this offseason on getting help at defensive tackle, safety and offensive tackle. On the eve of the free-agent signing period, the Raiders broke the bank to re-sign Tommy Kelly, inking him to a seven-year, $50.5 million deal, the biggest contract ever for a defensive tackle. Kelly played some defensive end last year before tearing his ACL, but he may move back to tackle in '08. Oakland would be interested in re-signing C Jeremy Newberry, but perhaps only for one more season, and Kiffin is said to like QB Josh McCown as a backup for JaMarcus Russell, though McCown would rather compete for a starting job. Now that RB Justin Fargas has been re-signed, both LaMont Jordan and Dominic Rhodes are potential salary-cap casualties.