Randall Cobb is a unique talent on a stacked Green Bay Packers offense. But his career could be over if he signs with the Raiders as a free agent as reported by Bill Williamson of ESPN.
(Photo Courtesy of Evan Siegle/Press-Gazette Media)
His 2014 numbers were great with 91 passes for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns, but just imagine how much better they would be if he wasn’t competing for touches with Jordy Nelson, and even Davante Adams and Edie Lacy.
Cobb knows this. The Packers know this. The entire league knows this. So his free agency number is likely to be $9 million as reported by Rob Demovsky of ESPN, and he is easily worth it. The franchise tag for wide receivers will be north of $12 million, so Cobb’s going rate almost seems like a bargain.
But then there’s cap space. The salary cap is an algorithm that my brain can’t handle, but the Packers won’t have much left if they pay Cobb what he’s worth. This is something else that Cobb, the Packers, and the entire league know.
The Raiders have a lot of cap room after cleaning house last season. And a few years at the bottom of the standings has given them some decent drafts. Including Derek Carr who is part of the new NFL standard of starting rookie quarterbacks fresh out of the draft.
Derek Carr has the potential to become a star quarterback. He clearly didn’t have many weapons to throw to last season, and it’s amazing that the Raiders squeezed 3 wins out in 2014. How would he fair with a legit #1 receiver like Cobb? For one thing, it would give the safety of whoever the Raiders are playing something to do on Sunday.
Could going to the Raiders be a career limiting move for Randall Cobb? Now that the NFL is primarily a passing league, quarterbacks are so much more important to the success of a receiver. As an example, where was Andre Johnson this year with Houston doing the quarterback Hokey-Pokey (936 yards in 2014 after a quality 1,407 yard 2013 season), or the Larry Fitzgerald roller coaster after Kurt Warner retired, or what kind of drugs was Eric Decker on when he left Payton Manning after the Broncos Super Bowl XLVIII run to catch passes from Geno Smith Michael Vick Geno Smith (2013: 87/1,288/11 with Broncos, 2014: 74/962/5 with Jets). In fact, Randall Cobb had front row seats to the Greg Jennings disappearing career act when he left Aaron Rodgers for Christian Ponder (solid 1000 yard/season when healthy at Green Bay, down to 804 yards in 2013 followed by 742 in 2014)!
Randall, do what is good for your career, and give a home town discount to stay with a winner. If you do what is right, you have a chance at a another ring or two, a chance at Canton, and a longer career that will earn you even more money than the one and forgotten contract you would get with the Raiders.
(Video Courtesy of NFL and NBC, posted by packersrule321)
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