Asomugha, Porter to opt out; Raiders should pursue both

By Anthony Carroll  |   Tuesday, January 01, 2008  |  Comments( 25 )

Oakland Raiders
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It's a new year, and two Oakland Raiders decided their resolution for 2008 will be to make more money.

Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and wide receiver Jerry Porter decided Monday that they will void the final years of their contracts, making them free agents this upcoming offseason. Porter signed a five-year, $21 million contract back in February 2005, and he was scheduled to make $1 million in each of the next two seasons. Asomugha is still playing under a rookie contract, and he was set to earn just $820,000 next year.

Both players had rather successful '07 seasons in Oakland, and it's not surprising that each elected to hit the market this offseason.

After catching just one pass all of last season, Porter hauled in 44 balls for 705 yards and six touchdowns in 16 starts this past year. The 29-year-old had a catch in every singe game and hauled in three TDs in the final five weeks of the season. Porter accounted for over one-quarter of the Raiders' total passing yards.

On the opposite side of the ball, Asomugha was just as successful, if not more. Though, unlike Porter, his success didn't show up on the stat sheet.

After an eight-interception campaign in '06, Asomugha followed with just one pick in 2007, but he was rarely thrown at by an enemy quarterback or beaten by an opposing receiver. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder was picked on just 28 times all season long, and he allowed only 10 catches. As a result, Asomugha finished off the year with a meager 34 tackles and one INT.

Both players, particularly Asomugha, will be hot assets on the open market.

Asomugha, 26, has played in 54 games in his five-year career with 217 tackles, nine interceptions and 35 passes defensed. At wideout, Porter hasn't even hit his 30th birthday, but he has already played in 105 games in his eight-year career with 284 receptions, 3,939 yards and 30 touchdowns.

"As you probably know, my contract expired as of, like, 30 minutes ago," Porter told the Sacramento Bee following the team's Week 17 loss. "We'll just see."

With only one franchise tag available, it will likely be Porter who would need to negotiate a deal with Raiders team owner Al Davis if he wishes to stay in the Bay Area. Ideally, the 78-year-old owner would sign both to multiyear contracts, but that appears very unlikely at this point.

Asomugha should be the first to receive the Raiders' attention, even if it means using the one-year tag. Oakland is deep at cornerback with youngsters Fabian Washington, Stanford Routt, Chris Carr and John Bowie -- coming off his rookie year -- still a part of the lineup, but none has emerged as a lockdown corner thus far. Asomugha is a rare talent with the ability to match up with any sized pass catcher in the NFL.

Porter, though not overly spectacular in terms of numbers, proved to be a very reliable target all season, making several spectacular catches along the way. The ex-West Virginia standout led the Raiders with a 16.0 yards per catch average among all receivers on the team with at least 10 grabs.

"I've got a group of guys I've been with around here," Porter said. "I've got a lot of love for them. We laugh, we cry, we sweat, we bled together. It's hard to just throw that away and go pick up with somebody else like that. Sounds like a marriage."

With Oakland's offseason officially underway, the Raiders should do all they can to keep both marriages alive.

It might not be cheap, but it's in the best interest of a struggling franchise.

Anthony Carroll can be contacted at acarroll@realfootball365.com
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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