Porter should pack his bags

Interesting column in the Contra Costa Times it basically says what I've been saying this whole time about the Raiders and their handling of the Jerry Porter situation. I breakdown the column behind the cut.

The Oakland Raiders have had one heck of an August so far. They come into tonight's game against Detroit 3-0 in the preseason. There have been no major
injuries. And phase one of the Jerry Porter Project has gone perfectly.

Since the man himself has participated in just a handful of plays this summer, a reintroduction may be in order. Porter is the Raiders' longest-tenured
wide receiver, dating back to the days of Chuckie faces and winning records.

He also is the rightful heir to the storied succession of Raiders who have straddled the line that indicates where a player becomes more trouble than he
is worth. During his time with the team, Porter has popped off when common sense called for introspection. He has identified "m" and "e" as his two favorite
letters in "team." While productive, his walk has fallen short of his talk.

In short, he is the embodiment of the way things have gone in Oakland the past few years.

OCC Comment: Porter was always a me-first kind of guy. He clashed with Jon Gruden, he thought he should be a first-round draft pick and so his rookie season he dawned the number 1. He’s always thought more of his talent than he’s produced with it. He’s had some good games but never been the kind of player he advertises himself as.

Further we read:

Whereas new/old Raiders coach Art Shell is the embodiment of the way things once were in Oakland, when being a Raider was about more than posing and jumping
offside (occasionally at the same time). Shell's mission statement is no easy task: Introduce discipline to the undisciplined, apply urgency to the unmotivated,
and coax enough will and want-to out of these players to see if they are underachievers (as has been suggested), or simply unusable parts.

Thus, it was inevitable Shell and Porter would eventually find themselves nose-to-nose. It didn't take long -- their first meeting last spring ended with
the player being ordered from the coach's office.

OCC Comment: I remember reading about this when it happened and being very interested. I’ve read about what went down in that meeting since then and it seems to me as though Coach Shell put his foot down right in Jerry Porter’s backside.

Still further:

Now it could have been that Shell had just finished watching the film from last season's game at Kansas City. Or that Porter walked into the meeting wearing
a Franco Harris Fan Club T-shirt. A more likely scenario is that both men understood who they were, what they stood for, and the sheer unworkability of
their arranged professional marriage.

It's like that in football. And in business. And in the military. And on the middle-school playground. A new alpha male shows up, bent on changing the culture.
He identifies the one guy who represents his biggest obstacle to that end. And he commences making an example of the poor fellow.

As we mentioned, mission accomplished. True, Shell's hair-trigger temper in that first meeting smells of premeditation. Yes, the calf injury Porter has
claimed throughout camp smacks of, "Back atcha." The more important aspect to this dynamic is that Shell has sent a message to the rest of the team:

It could happen to you, too.

Why has he done this? One, because it needed to be done. And two, because he can. Shell (a) is a former Raider, (b) is a Hall of Famer, and (c) was introduced
at his Hall of Fame induction by team owner Al Davis. Bill Callahan and Norv Turner, who were routed by the inmates while Davis sat by more or less passively,
would have killed for that kind of cache.

Shell has it, and he is putting it to work. For one thing, Raiders who make mental mistakes in practice now find themselves running laps afterward. Does
this mean the team now can shred the "Dumbest Team in America" letterhead that Callahan left behind? Not necessarily. But at least Shell is trying a new
and proactive strategy.

OCC Comment: Well, I say good. The culture around the team needs to change. It has been a disaster since Gruden left and something had to change even if it is a return to old school.

It just can't end with phase one, is all. To make this thing truly resonate, the Raiders need to send Porter packing.

But phase two will be tricky. For starters, it would be a good idea to get him on the field to showcase him, starting tonight. That means Porter has to
be ceded back some control in this situation. He has to pronounce himself fit for duty (the calf can be such a tricky muscle). Then Shell has to run some
offense his way.

Here's the biggie -- Davis is going to have drop his demand that Porter return the $4 million bonus he received when he signed his most recent contract.
Current estimates project that happening the day Davis introduces the team's new mauve-on-green-on-polka dot jerseys.

It has been reported that the Raiders already have received trade offers from teams interested in Porter -- all of which they have declined. So it could
be they not only will have to write off the $4 million as Porter's lovely parting gift but lower their asking price as well.

That's not immediately gratifying, but it's the way to go. They have an intriguing stable of potential replacements in Doug Gabriel, Alvis Whitted and (should
he ever healthy up) Ronald Curry. Plus, keeping Porter around as a dead player walking invites the kind of polarizing Marcus Allen situation that sullied
Shell's first go-round as coach of the team.

Better to let him go somewhere else to see what kind of greatness awaits him. The Raiders already know how that one turns out.

OCC: Well, here’s the thing, they have to trade him. You don’t just release this guy and let him go for nothing. If you can get a second or third round pick in return go for it. I don’t think he’s worth the 1 that the team has been asking for, and to trade him for a 1 would in a way validate his claims that he was underused the whole time. They’ll be fine with Whitted, Morant, Gabriel and Curry along with Randy Moss. They’d be better with Porter, but the trouble is that you shouldn’t keep a guy around that doesn’t want to be there simply out of spite, it doesn’t work.