Raiders Sign Sapp

[Starwood]

Might stop the run this year after all.
Washington, Sapp, Parella, Stubblefield, and shitload of new, fast linebackers.


TAMPA, Fla. -- Seven-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Warren Sapp signed a seven-year, $36.6 million contract with the Oakland Raiders on Saturday, ending his nine-year relationship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.


"The bad news is I won't be back with the Bucs," Sapp said by telephone from Miami. "The good news is I'm a Raider."


The surprise move came only a day after Sapp's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said the one-time NFL defensive player of the year was close to signing a four-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.


Sapp will receive a $7 million signing bonus. He earned $6.6 million last year in the final season of a six-year, $36 million contract he signed in 1998.


Earlier this month, the 31-year-old tackle said he was optimistic about the prospect of re-signing with the Bucs. But that changed when his old team failed to make him an offer during the first week of the free agency period.


Sapp joined the Bucs as first-round draft pick out of Miami in 1995 and -- along with linebacker Derrick Brooks and safety John Lynch -- helped transform the Bucs from a laughingstock into Super Bowl champions.


Lynch was released last week after 11 seasons with Tampa Bay, a move that cleared about $4 million under the NFL salary cap.


Sapp leaves the only pro team he has played for two sacks shy of the franchise record of 78½ held by Hall of Famer Lee Roy Selmon.

[Cult of Roth]

<----Does a double take

Wasn't he about to become a bengal?

Welcome to the Oakland Raiders: Providing a home for old, washed-up outcasts since 1960...

[Eyes of the Night]

That's actually pretty fuckin' cool man ...

[DLR7884]

I thought the Raiders were going to try to build a younger team?

DLR7884
Fucking morons.

[ALinChainz]

They should be. Norv Turner coached a young Troy Aikman in Dallas and to me, should be taking the best QB available when they select at 2. I know they are hard on for Fitzgerald, a lot of teams are. But there are going to be a lot of receivers in this draft and the teams picking early can afford to wait I believe.

In my opinion, the Chargers should go Manning at #1, and the Raiders go Rothelisberger (sp?), or trade down and try and get Rivers.

[BuzinBad]

Just when you think the Raiders are headed in a new direction they go back to picking up used up players that are in the twilight of their career. How must it suck to be a Raiders fan and never see any kind of youth movement on their team? News flash to Raider management...THE OLD VETERAN TEAM THING ISN"T WORKING! It almost worked 2 years ago but that was a fluke. I don't think even my man Norv can turn that team around.

[DLR7884]

Norv would do better with a young team.

That fat fucking loud mouth Sapp is going to be a locker room cancer.

He's a cocksmoker, and the only reason he gets double teamed is because he's a fat ass.

Go bump more refs, asshole.

DLR7884
He's not worth whatever the fuck they are paying him.

[rustoffa]

They signed Ted Washington as well......run stoppage to say the least.BTW,so long Bresnahan you stupid fuck.

[WARF]

Excuse me if i'm wrong...

But isn't a 7 year contract.... a bit pushin' it.... for a player who's in his early 30's???

[Lou]

A lot of those years are "dummy" years, and spreading the signing bonus out cap-wise so you don't hurt yourself on this year's cap. As we all know there are no guaranteed contracts in the NFL; the only guaranteed money is the signing bonus.

For example, Sapp got a 7 year deal for $36M with a signing bonus for $7M. The Raiders have to pay him that $7 right away. However, for cap purposes, you can pro-rate the signing bonus for however many years the deal is. So the Raiders only have $1M of that signing bonus (besides his salary) count against the cap for this year ($7M divided by 7 years). If they did a 3 year deal let's say (which is probably all they're gonna keep him for), then they'd have $2.33M count against the cap this year, $7M divided by 3.

That being said, if you cut a player then whatever is left of the signing bonus money gets accelerated on to that year's cap. So if they cut him in three years, they'll have $4M left in bonus money that hasn't been applied to the cap yet, so it gets accelerated all onto that year's cap. The thinking is that they'll just worry about that when it comes.

[Sarge]

Originally posted by DLR7884
Norv would do better with a young team.

That fat fucking loud mouth Sapp is going to be a locker room cancer.

He's a cocksmoker, and the only reason he gets double teamed is because he's a fat ass.

Go bump more refs, asshole.

DLR7884
He's not worth whatever the fuck they are paying him.

AMEN.
THe guy runs his mouth.
He isn't worth that kind of money.
All that fat is going to catch up with him...
I don't like Sapp at all.
HE wasn't even the best player on the TB defense.
Good riddance!

[Sarge]

Someone has to take Romo's spot with the shitalkin'

[Switch84]

Originally posted by DLR7884
Norv would do better with a young team.

That fat fucking loud mouth Sapp is going to be a locker room cancer.

He's a cocksmoker, and the only reason he gets double teamed is because he's a fat ass.

Go bump more refs, asshole.

DLR7884
He's not worth whatever the fuck they are paying him.

Damn, I didn't think it was possible for someone to despise Warren Sapp as much as I did! He is despicable, to say the least!

That loud mouthed fat fuck will reak havoc on the Raiders.

[Starwood]

He's better than what they had. And NO ONE gets away with shit talking if John Parella is in the room.
Raiders needed to stop the run. With the recent upgrades on their D-Line, teams are going to have to throw all day.

[redblkwht]

I never heard of anyone Tampa Bay was happy to leave behind..
(loudmouth sapp)
on the other hand, Losing Lynch the whole town is upside down on
that bad move..
Gruden has a very tough challenge ahead, Sapp being gone is a
blessing in disguise.

[rustoffa]

Originally posted by redblkwht
I never heard of anyone Tampa Bay was happy to leave behind..
(loudmouth sapp)
on the other hand, Losing Lynch the whole town is upside down on
that bad move..
Gruden has a very tough challenge ahead, Sapp being gone is a
blessing in disguise.

Lynch was over-rated.......dogpiler just like Brooking.Fuck those Trade-ship dandies anyhoo.

[High Life Man]

Originally posted by redblkwht
Gruden has a very tough challenge ahead

I have a feeling after last year, the shine is off of Gruden. He's got 1, maybe 2 years left in TB.

[Sarge]

Lynch was good.. but is aging like Sapp.

K Johnson, Sapp, Lyunch and McKay being gone..
Jeesh
Looks like they are dismantling the team

[ALinChainz]

On the defensive side of the ball too where their strength has been for years. Does seem like an odd off season for them.

The tinkering with the available QBs can't be of much comfort to Brad Johnson.

Tough figuring out Gruden sometimes.

[Starwood]

Bruce Allen will keep that team in contention. He's the best in the business.

[rustoffa]

Originally posted by ALinChainz
Tough figuring out Gruden sometimes.

I always fancied the idea of a garbage-barge funeral pyre in the middle of Tampa Bay.