With rumors about a move back to Los Angeles constantly swirling around the Raiders, owner Mark Davis didn’t exactly move to shut them down in a conversation with Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com yesterday at the owner meetings in Orlando.
“We’re not done in Oakland. We’re trying really hard, and we’ll see how that goes,” Davis said. “But Los Angeles is something that I’ve definitely thought about and haven’t pursued. There are other places as well. Until we can find out if Oakland is real, then I’m still staying in Oakland. If we can get something done in Oakland, I will stay in Oakland.”
Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post adds (via Twitter) that Davis said today Raiders fans shouldn’t be worried about a possible move to Los Angeles. But as Davis’ specific wording (“not at this time”) suggests, the Raiders owner’s comments come with an implied threat, even if it’s not laid out explicitly. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk digs deeper into that topic, and we’ll dig deeper into a few more Raiders-related items:
- Free agent guard Richie Incognito has expressed interest in signing with the Raiders, and Davis didn’t rule out that possibility today, as Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com details. However, Davis also suggested asking general manager Reggie McKenzie about Incognito, and when Marc Sessler of NFL.com did exactly that, he was met with a smile and silence from the GM, as he tweets.
- Speaking to Bair (Twitter links), McKenzie conveyed some disappointment in losing Jared Veldheer and Lamarr Houston in free agency, suggesting that the Raiders made fair market offers to both players. The GM also stressed that it wasn’t a case of letting Veldheer go, but rather than the offensive tackle made the decision to leave Oakland.
- Austin Howard, one of the Raiders’ major free agent signings this month, was actually signed to play guard rather than right tackle, tweets Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle. According to Tafur, the team hopes 2013 second-round pick Menelik Watson can take over right tackle in 2014.