Well that "BIG" Free Agent signing backfired... Raiders do not allow Rb Lamont Jordan on the practice field ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Derrick Burgess and LaMont Jordan have both been absent for the voluntary workouts for the Oakland Raiders this offseason. Greg Trott / Getty Images LaMont Jordan has struggled to produce the past two seasons in Oakland. Both players showed up for the start of the mandatory minicamp Tuesday, but only Burgess was allowed to work out. Jordan was told to stay away from the practice field by coach Lane Kiffin as the team tries to trade him or decides to cut him loose. "We're exploring a couple of different options," Kiffin said. "We're in communication with him. He was here this morning. We're just keeping him off the field. ... The last thing we want to do for him or ourselves is for LaMont to come out here and get hurt today." Jordan rushed for 1,025 yards, caught 70 passes and scored 11 touchdowns his first season in Oakland in 2005, but has had much less impact since with only 983 yards rushing the last two seasons. He fell behind Justin Fargas on the depth chart in 2007 and is not in the team's future plans following the addition of first-round draft pick Darren McFadden. Trading Jordan could be difficult because he is scheduled to make $4.7 million this year and $5 million next season and most interested teams will probably wait until he is released. Jordan was unavailable for comment. Burgess looked like his usual self as he showed up at practice for the first time this season. He had been back in Mississippi spending time with family and keeping in his usual tip-top shape by working out at Ole Miss instead of with his teammates in California at optional practices and other workouts. Burgess didn't take long to show his impact. He burst around the end on one play and was poised to deliver a big hit on quarterback JaMarcus Russell if this had been a game rather than a minicamp practice. "Once again he looks the same as far as running around and movement," Kiffin said. "He looked great on a couple of nakeds that were coming out to his side. He's one of those few guys that you never have to worry about not being in shape or ready to play." Burgess said it was good to be back competing with his teammates after being gone the past five months. He has already noticed one big change now that defensive tackle Warren Sapp has retired, saying it's much quieter on the field. Making up for Sapp's play on the field will be the real challenge. Burgess said he thought Tommy Kelly would be even better playing at Sapp's tackle position instead of shifting back and forth from end to tackle and other players like second-year end Jay Richardson had to step up their games. Oakland Raiders "We need everybody out there," Burgess said. "Everybody on this d-line has to be held accountable. A lot of these guys have got to make up for some of the plays Sapp won't make, or was going to make. But we just got to be one good unit." Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha also was not on hand because he has not signed his franchise-tag tender. The Raiders placed the exclusive franchise tag on Asomugha in February, guaranteeing him at least $9.465 million for this season but not allowing him to negotiate with any other teams. Kiffin said Asomugha could show up one of the next two days but won't be allowed to practice until he signs his tender offer. Kelly (knee), receiver Ronald Curry (foot), safety Jarrod Cooper (knee) and center Jake Grove (knee) were on hand but did not practice because of injuries.
nobody could ever blame him for taking that money. he wasn't worth it and would never have seen that amount otherwise. he'll go back to being a back up and making back up money, and could probably land on a pretty good team in that role, with fatter pockets to boot.
Lamont Lament Hey, don't diss Lamont Jordan. For cryin' out loud, are these Jets fans or Patriots fans I am reading comments from on this board? We had a great deal when Lamont was with the Jets. He was a very capable backup to Curtis Martin, and we won a lot of games with him in the backfield. We had some great years when he was with the team. So what's with the sour grapes? One more thing, for all the people who claim that Herm Edwards and Terry Bradway destroyed the Jets with bad personnel moves? Well, this was usually "Bad Move Number One" when people criticized that regime. But I am sure that no one will own up to it now that it's over and don with. So jsut maybe a little bit of credit should be given to them for NOT signing Lamont Jordan to the kind of crazy contract the Cowboys just gave to T. O., that Michael Strahan wants from the Giants, and that Bryan Thomas received from the current Jets "braintrust."
Lamont was a great compliment to Martin at the time. I would have rather slapped the tag on Jordan, and not Abe in hindsight.
Good point, except that... Our offensive line was torn apart as Lamont was leaving the team, thus the lack of production in the running game AND the passing game. Fabini left, Kareem MacKenzie left... And we were left with a line that destroyed our QBs and destroyed our RB corps. And we're still paying the price.
i know our backfield is crowded, but we seem to have only north/south runners or scat-backs. jordon is a true tweener that can run between the hash marks and also make the corner (on occasion). would he be a better option to bring back than one of the other rbs hoping to make the team? or maybe we should just wait 3 years for the raiders to cut run-dmc.
Lamont Jordan = Injury prone bum I'm sure he will land some backup role somewhere, which is good for him. Hope he didn't blow his big pay day with the Raiders in one shot. He won't see that kinda money again.
Jordan was a very good back for us and if he didn't go to a crap team like the Raiders he may have developed into a quality starter. I guess RaiderJoe will have to buy that McFadden jersey sooner than he thought. Well, at least Lamont wont have to move his 15 babie's mamas with him to where ever he ends up playing. Run DMC, are you paying attention.
do we have any jeaux posts from when the raiders signed joran? i'm sure he had a lot to say in 05 when curtis and blaylock went down and lamont had 1000 yards. i wonder what he thinks of the signing now...
I remember when Curtis Martin said that Lamont Jordan was going to be the best running back in the NFL. I think Jordan needed Martin more than he realized. Martin was a great mentor and if they had spent a few more years in the same backfield, he would've gained a little more of C-Mart's work ethic. As far as the trade goes, you simply cannot knock trading a player at the peak of their value and then watching them dissolve on another team. Would Jordan have dissolved if he stayed on the Jets? Maybe not, but it's a moot point. With all that said, where do you guys see Jordan headed now? I can think of three options: San Diego would be the best for him- he could learn a lot backing up LT. Tampa Bay always needs backs and he'd be a nice compliment to Graham. I could also see him going to Denver and spelling the younger, svelter Selvin Young.
I must say I have to disagree with this (not being a great compliement but putting the franchise tag on him). My friend argued this with me and I said we should never put a franchise tag on a backup/compliment running back. He was good while he was here but as we saw, he cannot carry the load by himself, it would have been a mistake. Since we franchised JA, we received fair compensation from Atlanta which brought it Nick Mangold. I'm much happier to see NM than LJ on our team.
