There’s a report tonight from Michael Lombardi of NFL Network that the Oakland Raiders have placed defensive lineman Richard Seymour on the reserve/left club list.
The news comes amid reports that Seymour received a “five-day letter” from the Raiders on Thursday or Friday.
We’re confused here because, as the league office explained the procedure to us, a player cannot be placed on the reserve/left club list until after the five-day period encompassed by the coincidentally-named five-day letter has expired.
If/when Seymour is placed on the reserve/left club list, he cannot play again in 2009, for anyone.
Also, we continue to have doubts as to whether the trade is truly official, given that (as a very good source has told us) the trade specifically hinges on Seymour reporting and passing a physical. That said, the mere sending of the five-day letter constitutes evidence that the Raiders regard Seymour to be their property.
Bottom line? Regardless of the precise state of affairs at the present time, the Raiders have bungled this situation by not including specific language that would have automatically scuttled the deal if Seymour didn’t report by a specific date after the deal was done.
It also might have been a good idea to get a feel for whether Seymour was willing to trade the gold standard in NFL franchises for the Black Hole before boxing up that 2011 first-round pick and shipping it to Foxborough.
He is on the Exempt/Left-Club list.
This means that he doesn’t count towards the 53 man roster.
Reserve would imply that he can no longer compete for his current time this season.
As noted elsewhere, that can’t happen until the five day letter is five days old (on Tuesday).
Hey Al, you still look great!
You haven’t decomposed a bit!
Mike Lombardi has zero credibility with respect to the Raiders.
Richie Rich Seymour has to get his deal to forbid the Raiders from branding him with the franchise tag.
what a frigin mess
Pretty sure that this is a mistake. He would have to have gotten the letter on the same day as the trade for this to be true. Also, this would mean that the Raiders have laid full claim to Seymour, and they will essentially get nothing this year for their pick.
Then again, if this is true, then Seymour has really hurt himself here. His contract will not be up at the end of the season, and he will not become a free agent next year. Since next year is looking like it will be uncapped, he will likely lose out on a LOT of money.
This guys a loser, you’re getting to play a game for millions of dollars, you have the chance to be a hero if you go and perform well there, the team may be bad but at least they are always trying to get better which is more than most teams can say, plus in that division who knows what can happen maybe Rivers goes down then the division is up for grabs. Just go play!!
Does anyone agree that Florio has the best hair in all of journalism?
What the hell kind of update is this. It basically just says, “We’re so confused and we can’t confirm shit.” Thnks for the update bro.
Wait…….What?
I think Al might have completely lost what ever is left of his sanity. He can’t do the basic math here. 1=5? Not quite.
As a Dolphins fan I’m torn….No Richard Seymour twice a year = good.
Teams continuing to help the Patriots rebuild = bad.
Question? If you are always competing with the Patriots, why trade them draft picks EVERY year? The have like 3 second round picks next year also. DUMB
Damn, all these stories on all the sports sites today saying:
“New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is confirming that he and wife, model Gisele Bundchen, are expecting a baby.”
..and not ONE says who the father is…
No….he’s on the exempt/left squad list. It gives the Raiders an exemption to the 53 man roster limit so they could re-sign William Joseph. The Raiders have 54 on the roster including Seymour. Ha-Ha!!
Then the Raiders will be tired of Seymour and then finally cut/waive him. Then the Patriots will pick him up again, and will have lost nothing and gained a 1st round pick.
Wow, you all are about 6 hours late on this. Way to go losers.
Raiders do this out of spite/pride like a spurned lover?
Player doesn’t want to report and makes a few bad comments about franchise.
Franchise keeps rights and tells him to sit a year and his contract will be valid next year.
Only the Raiders would do such a thing when a 1st round pick is involved.
What do Seymour’s feelings have to do with anything? He doesn’t own his contractual rights, the Patriots did and the Raiders do now. Seymour’s feelings on the issue are irrelevant.
How come no one is getting on Seymour’s case for not being a professional and doing his job? This is every bit as bad as the prima donna behavior exhibited by so many WRs league wide.
Im sure Al covered his ass on this. He has made quite a few trades in his day ( some not so good) But you would think after 50 years of doing trades he would know what the hell he is doing. hopefully , maybe….,,, aw hell i dunno.
Every time I check a story on this site it is the same thing over and over again, breaking a story with few facts and a hope that they guessed right. I know every one wants to break a big story but either wait until you have the facts or state that you are speculating and do not have confirmation. Too many people are taking the first thing as fact and when it proves to be wrong it is too late. With good reporting comes great responsibility.
HAHA. Enough said.
Florio, when are you going to get it? It’s bad business for the NFL to include specific language for a player not showing up. Then whenever a player gets traded, they’ll just say “F it, I don’t want to go” and poof, every player has an automatic no trade clause.
Use your head. Think of the precedent that would set for the league. Seymour has to go. He has no choice. His rights were traded, he has no say in the matter. He doesn’t get to say “I don’t want to go.” He can’t.
And for all the people out there suggesting the Raiders can just wink-wink nudge-nudge oops you failed your physical… not so fast. If the Patriots suspect that the physical was not conducted on the up and up, they can request that an independent league doctor conduct a second physical in New York.
Considering Richard has already passed one physical in the last few weeks, gone through every single practice without being reported as having missed any for injury and participated in multiple preseason games without showing up on the injury report, I’m thinking passing the physical is nothing more than a formality.
Sorry, there is no possible way for the Raiders to get out of this. The NFL views a completed trade as legal and binding and considering the Raiders have made all these moves acknowledging Richard is their player, they are well past the point of no return.
everyone says belicheck is so smart and davis got taken….really…what do the raiders stand to lose…nothing is expected of them this year…they still hold the rights and could trade him…and if this possibly breaks down and gets nullified belicheck gets a disgruntled player who missed games to muck up the works….if it does go through i could see the pats DE replacement burgess getting bowled over in the run game and teams effectively keeping brady/moss off the field
belicheck didnt pull the trigger on a trade with the raiders in 2006 for a WR and went into the AFC championship with no WRs….caldwell then proceeded to drop a sure TD with little time left costing them a trip to the SB….next season they went and got moss
raiders dont have alot to lose…pats have everything to lose
It doesn’t matter what any of us keyboard authorities thinks, be you a fan, a reporter, a Mike Florio blogger. What matters is what the LEAGUE thinks, and that’s very simple:
Seymour’s contract is owned by New England. They can do what they want with it. They decided that Seymour’s skills are starting to decline, and more importantly, they knew that they weren’t going to pay him the big dough when his contract is up, and he’d end up walking and they’d get nothing for him. The Patriots are being called heartless and disrespectful for this, yet when Seymour holds out of camp twice while still under contract, hey, that’s just “business”, right?
So the Pat’s find someone with a defense so pathetic that they’ll trade their future (2011 #1 pick) for success today. Was Oakland stupid for that? Maybe, but it’s their call. So New England trades Seymour’s contract for that #1 pick. Happens all the time.
Seymour doesn’t like this and decides he ain’t gonna play nice. Folks, he’s setting a very dangerous precedant, and the league doesn’t want that. Don’t think for one minute that either Oakland or New England is acting on their own. If Oakland sent the letter, it’s because the league TOLD them to. The league is saying “Al, Seymour is your headache now, and this is how you’re gonna handle it!”. If New England is saying “hey, he’s not our player anymore”, it’s because the league is telling them that.
Never mind the “it isn’t final until he takes a physical” crap! The league has already decided that Seymour is Oakland’s problem and New England keeps the draft pick. They can’t afford to have Seymour change the way the league moves players …. ain’t gonna happen, Dickie! You picked the wrong battle, though it was the only option you saw available.
There’s no way out of this for Seymour. He either doesn’t report and forfeits his 3.7 mil and picks up a year from now in the very same position (he plays a year for Oakland and then they slap another one year “franchise tag” on his sorry ass). Dickie loves money way too much to give up 3.7 large.
Or he retires (again, he’s too greedy to pass on 3.7 mil) and Oakland still owns the rights to his services (he can’t un-retire and go somewhere else unless the Raiders release him and he pulls a Favre).
Or he drags his sorry butt to Oakland, picks up his 3.7 mil this year and scores a big payday when they franchise him next year. He’ll still be playing for a sucky team, but he’ll be making huge jack, and for Seymour, it has ALWAYS been about the jack.
Live by the dollar, die with the dollar, Dickie. I have zero sympathy for this guy.
Picking up 2 number first round draft picks, 1 second round draft pick and 8 million for a coach, yes I think Al Davis knows how to put together a trade.
Picking up Mike Haynes from New England in a trade and Willie Brown from Denver was genuis, both Hall of Famers.
The funny thing with Willie Brown was Denver had him playing on one side as a corner. When Al picked him up he made him switch to the other side and the rest is history.
All trades do not work out just ask New England that just cut two players they gave up draft picks to pick up.
You want to know about Al and business, ask all the other owners in the NFL what it felt like writing him a check each for millions of dollars.
Or how an assistant coach ended up owning an NFL team, do not worry your little pouper asses about Al Davis because I can assure you he gives two shits what any of you think.
Seymour is the property of the Raiders and the Raiders will deal with it, but I love the move and if it takes a little bit to get it settled in so be it.
What does it say for the RaiDUH’s……..When a veteran is traded to the team, a year away from a new contract, knowing full well the crazy owner will give him untold millions, and yet he doesn’t show up……
Seymour’s agent is a screw up.
They are going to make Al show them who is boss. There is nothing that Al likes better than to demonstrate his power.
Seymour is owed no new deal from the Raiders because he has done nothing for the Raiders.
Everything is negative so far.
He can sit out and not get paid this season and have to play for the Raiders next year.
Then the following season he can be franchised and even the next year after that.
Seymour either shows up with a smile on his face happy to have a job or he can leave the NFL.
He is getting bad advice from his stupid agent and wrecking his chance at an extension of his contract.
Could be worse… We could be the Browns.
Right Gre Naiduh?
Seymour belongs to the Raiders i agree 100 percent but its in his best interest to report and play he will get a new contract he has a chance of being a hero in the Hole and no matter what anyone says the Raiders are a up and coming team a few more years together and watch out
Schefter is reporting Seymour is headed to Oakland and will play on Monday.
Bye, bye haters.
Why don’t you go cry into your appletinis with Chubs Lombardi.
Ok people, it’s really this simple.
1. He is under contract with the Raiders.
2. If he has indeed been informed with this 5-day letter, he has to report in that timeframe.
3. If he does not report, he CAN be placed on the reserved/did not report list (whatever you call it) but it does not mean that he actually will be, at least not right away. (That’s up to the Raiders.)
4. IF he does not report, and is placed on the list, he cannot play football for the entire season. Furthermore, he will still be under contract with Oakland next year for the same base salary. And he get’s no pay this season.
5. The reason he is on the list now, is most likely just a technicality as Oakland was allowed an additional roster spot, since he hasn’t shown up. If he show’s up, that spot will be eliminated.
6. About the only other option for Seymour is to retire, in which case he doesn’t get paid, and can’t play this season. Assuming he would be under the clause of “not reporting” after reaching the 5 day letter, I would assume the Raiders could possibly maintain his right’s the following year. (I’ll note that, that specific scenario, I’m not sure of, but would seem to fall in line with the above mentioned policy.)
Other options…
1. He sign’s and quit’s being a big baby. I’m sure Al would offer him a generous contract.
2. He sign’s a one year deal, with the promise of not being given a franchise tag (I don’t think it will ever happen)
3. He play’s for his base salary, and looks for a large contract next year.
4. Once again, the retirement option, but missing 1-2 years, with age catching up to him, he’s likely he’ll miss out on any large contract.
5. Oakland trades him for another player. (I also don’t see this likely has happening, and if so it will be some time down the road. At that point, any lack of playing, combined with this fiasco that he’s been causing will shy some potential suiters away.
In all, it would be in his best interest to show up, suit up, shut up and play.
How much more proof does the league need before they force Al Davis to sell the Raiders? Who trades a first round pick for an aging D-lineman? On the other hand, two years of a good Richard Seymour has to be better than six years of a overpaid DHB or JaMarcus Russell.
BREAKING NEWS: Adam Schefter just reported Seymour will report AND play Monday!! Espnnews!!
“Bottom line? Regardless of the precise state of affairs at the present time, the Raiders have bungled this situation by not including specific language that would have automatically scuttled the deal if Seymour didn’t report by a specific date after the deal was done.”
_________________________________
Mr. Florio, the Pats would never make the trade if the Raiders included language saying if he didn’t report after a certain number of days it was void.
That would be allowing the player to squash the trade. Certainly the Patriots would never agree to that, and I doubt any team would.
First off, property to seymours rights according to the NFLPA still belong to the Patriots, as he has not passed his physical. Thats the reason why he hasnt arrived in Oakland, if he did, his case would be finished, but he hasnt hence the reason they believe he is still the Patriots property.
Secondly in regards to the “first round pick”(Leaf, Bosworth) that the Raiders have traded, who really cares about a draft pick when you will be moving to an uncapped year?
Do you think Al might throw a few bucks towards some free agents?
Wait I know what you will say. Noone will sign with the Raiders, because everyone hates the Raiders and noone wants to play for them just look at Seymour. Of course we have yet to hear a quote from Seymour saying he does not want to play for the Raiders and we all know players are all about the money.
“17 Teams have never been winners the Raiders have 3 times.”
“It also might have been a good idea to get a feel for whether Seymour was willing …”
Florio, we fawn at your feet. And you have preached the almighty word about teams tampering with other teams, in the NFL. So enlighten us further, o enlightened wawn: if you were the Patriots, would you have given the Raiders permission to talk to Seymour beforehand, and reveal to him that you want to trade him to Oakland?