The Oakland Raiders have a whole lot of players they’d like to unload -- just as long as they can find a trading partner.
Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that the Raiders have had discussions with multiple teams to see if they can find anyone to take some of their players off their hands. Schefter reports that the Raiders did the same thing last year but found few takers.
This year could be different, though, because there’s no salary cap and no salary floor. So the Raiders could, if they’re so inclined, trade all the high-priced players they want and not be in any danger of having too low a payroll. And other teams could acquire high-priced players from the Raiders without having to worry about going over the salary cap, although there are some restrictions on trades in an uncapped year.
Schefter reports that the Raiders would even be willing to trade cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who’s widely regarded as the best player on their roster. However, Asomugha’s contract (which includes an $8 million roster bonus due on the first day of the league year, a $7.83 million option bonus due on March 19 and language that makes it difficult to franchise him when he becomes a free agent after the 2011 season) makes it very unlikely any team would trade for him.
But Asomugha is available if another team is interested. So are a lot of other Raiders.