Pirate Booty

AL DAVIS has always loved speed. The Raiders owner once signed a Jett (first name: James) and negotiated with a Rocket (last name: Ismail) in the same off-season. And his rosters have included college sprint champions and Olympic gold medalists. � Still, it's doubtful that any of them ever displayed the kind of separation Davis has attempted this off-season. In trying to put a fifth consecutive losing season behind him as quickly as possible, he has handed out contracts worth more than $300 million—$296 million of that spread among seven players. More noteworthy, the deals for those seven include nearly $120 million in guarantees and first-year salaries.

The Raiders say this is evidence that Davis plans to be aggressive in remaking the roster. Others wonder if it's an example of recklessness, pointing out that $36 million in guarantees and first-year salaries is going to three players coming off knee surgery: defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, who has never been to the Pro Bowl and has just 13 sacks in 49 career games with Oakland; former Broncos wide receiver Javon Walker, who has had three knee operations in as many years and has played only one full season during that time; and running back Justin Fargas, whose seven starts last season matched his career total for his previous four years as a Raider.

"There's a lot of risk involved," coach Lane Kiffin said last week at the team's minicamp. "But I don't have anything to do with the money. I just give my evaluation of players. That's Al's deal. He paid them what he paid them, and we've got to get the most out of them."

Davis's objective is to restore the luster to his once-powerful franchise, which had only six losing seasons from 1965 to 2002 but is 19--61 since reaching Super Bowl XXXVII in '03. The team has lost at least 11 games in each of the last five years after going more than four decades without back-to-back seasons of double-digit defeats.

When DeAngelo Hall met with Davis two months ago while Oakland was finalizing a trade for the Falcons' two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, he came away convinced that Davis, buoyed by a cash influx from three new silent partners, was going to make a play to win now. "He said, 'I'm mad I even let things get that bad,'?" recalls Hall, who signed a seven-year, $70 million contract ($24.5 million guaranteed) after being traded to the Raiders.

Hall of Fame receiver Fred Biletnikoff, who spent 14 years as a player and 18 as an assistant coach in the Oakland organization, said in a recent radio interview that the team's biggest problem is its personnel—a matter upon which Davis has final say. "There isn't quality," Biletnikoff told KHTK. "You can stumble around for words and say whatever you want, [but] the quality is so poor."

Davis, who declined to be interviewed, is attempting to change that by retaining core players such as Kelly and Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, and bringing in proven performers such as Hall, Walker and former Giants safety Gibril Wilson, who received a six-year deal worth a potential $39 million. Davis also signed big-play running back Darren McFadden of Arkansas, the fourth pick in this year's draft, to a six-year contract worth a potential $60 million.

"I suggest that every player go up there and talk to Al before the season starts because I guarantee you they'll play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder," Hall says. "That guy really cares about his players, and he'll do anything for us. That's the kind of guy you want to play for and win for. It ain't about us or anybody else. It's really about him."

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