Snap Judgment

When the Oakland Raiders signed free-agent quarterback Kerry Collins to a three-year, $16.8 million contract last month, many assumed that incumbent starter Rich Gannon's days with the Silver and Black were numbered. The 38-year-old Gannon was coming off surgery to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, an injury that sidelined him for the last nine games in 2003, and rumors had surfaced that Gannon was asked to take a pay cut from the $7 million he is due this season. � Normally a reticent interview subject, Gannon almost jumped through the phone during a conversation last Thursday, wanting to get his story out. "Can I address those things?" he said. "First of all, the Raiders have never asked me to reduce my salary. The only time it's come up was in my end-of-the-year [talk with the] press, when I was asked if I would take a pay cut. I said no. I signed my contract in good faith. What am I supposed to do, run upstairs [to the front office] and volunteer to take a pay cut?

"As far as my health goes, I don't know what to say other than I've never felt this good throwing the ball at this stage of the off-season. I'm stronger. I'm throwing around 100-pound dumbbells in the weight room. What's frustrating is that the media and football people seem to think I can't make the throws I need to make in this offense. Show me one throw I can't make. I've got plenty of arm.

"The fact is," Gannon continued, "I've played in a system that didn't exploit that part of my game. I was asked to throw mostly crosses and short stuff, but I've been at Pro Bowl practices with Peyton Manning for three years and made the same throws as him. I was the MVP of this league two years ago, and I believe if I'm healthy we'll win 11, 12 games and make the playoffs—and I'll make the Pro Bowl again."

At this stage he won't get any argument from new coach Norv Turner, who assumed Gannon would still be throwing cautiously this soon after rehab. Instead, in minicamps and voluntary workouts, Turner has seen a quarterback who appears to be in midseason form. "You're like Tommy John," Turner told Gannon earlier this spring, referring to the former major league pitcher who resurrected his career after undergoing groundbreaking reconstructive surgery on his pitching arm in 1974. "It looks like you're throwing better now than you were before."

Meanwhile, Collins, 31, is playing catchup as he gets familiar with Turner's system, but the coach knows he is getting a quarterback who will run his offense efficiently. "There's not going to be any controversy," says David Dunn, the agent for Collins. "Kerry wasn't promised anything. They've been very straight with him the whole way."

Oakland isn't the only team that will go into training camp next month with its quarterback situation in limbo: The Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and San Diego Chargers are in the same boat (box, page 70). What's more, the sudden release of almost any veteran quarterback could create a training-camp battle elsewhere in the league, beginning with last week's waiving of Tim Couch, the first pick in the 1999 draft, by the Cleveland Browns. Couch is expected to land in Green Bay as Brett Favre's understudy—unless he gets a big offer from the Arizona Cardinals or the Chicago Bears. Arizona ( Josh McCown), Chicago ( Rex Grossman) and the Baltimore Ravens ( Kyle Boller) have unproven young passers and could shake things up before the leaves turn. Possibly available for the right price is the Cincinnati Bengals' Jon Kitna, who was unceremoniously demoted in March to make way for Carson Parmer, the first selection in the 2003 draft. Last season Kitna had a better completion percentage, more touchdown passes and a higher passer rating than the New England Patriots' Tom Brady, who won his second Super Bowl MVP award.

Yet a most intriguing situation will play out in Oakland, where the losing quarterbacks in the Super Bowls of 2002 (Gannon) and 2001 ( Collins) will battle it out. In April, Collins was waived by the Giants to make room for No. 1 draft choice Eli Manning, but Collins has a strong deep arm that makes him a bona fide NFL starter.

Gannon thinks he'll win out. "There's a chip on my shoulder," he says. "I feel I've got something to prove. Whoever they bring in here—whether it's Kerry or anyone else—is fine with me. I believe I'll play for the Raiders, start for the Raiders, this year."

No matter who's running the offense, it's sorely in need of rejuvenation after Oakland's yards per pass attempt fell from second in the league in 2002 (7.58 yards) to 29th last year (5.74) under Gannon and then Rick Mirer, Marques Tuiasosopo, Tee Martin and Rob Johnson. One reason Turner got the job was his ability to take disparate pieces and turn them into a prolific unit. In 1999, his last full season as coach of the Washington Redskins, he had a quarterback with a questionable deep arm, Brad Johnson, and a wideout corps, led by Michael Westbrook and Albert Connell, that was devoid of a deep threat; Johnson threw for 4,005 yards, and Westbrook and Connell finished among the top five in the league in average yards per catch.

Turner faces the same challenge in Oakland. With Jerry Porter, Jerry Rice and Doug Gabriel, a fifth-round draft choice in 2003 out of Central Florida, likely to be the top three receivers—Tim Brown, 38 next month, might not make the team—Oakland doesn't have a consistent deep threat. Not to worry, says Turner, who prefers to run more deep crosses than the intermediate routes favored by predecessors Jon Gruden and Bill Callahan. "We don't have to throw 40-and 50-yard bombs," he says. "I'm talking 18-, 20-, 27-yard passes, thrown with feel. I'm seeing Rich do that."