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November 12, 2007

The waiting game

ALAMEDA – Andrew Walter is smart enough to know the Raiders won’t be his team.

The Raiders know that, too. But they aren’t letting go of Walter yet.

Walter spoke at length about his situation for the first time in several weeks today. The trading deadline passed on Oct. 16 and the team won’t release him.

Walter hasn’t dressed for the last three games and receives little, if any work in practice after starting eight games last season.

There was interest in Walter either via trade or if the Raiders had released him, but the Raiders are holding on to him.

One reason Lane Kiffin noted was Walter is still under contract for next season while Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper aren’t so the Raiders wouldn’t want to go into the offseason with JaMarcus Russell the only quarterback on the team.

Walter has two more years left on his rookie contract.

“When you draft a guy No. 1 overall, he's going to get the ball sooner rather than later,” Walter said. “It sort of aces out any situation that I can see myself in but, without saying a lot, I want to play. I want to play. The writing is on the wall.”

What the Raiders might have is another bargaining chip this offseason in Walter.

That does little for Walter, who has to watch guys come off the street (Vinny Testaverde, Tim Rattay) and play a few days later.

The Raiders might deal Walter to a team desperate for a quarterback to pick up another draft pick, which team could use to boost the offense, if used wisely.

As Walter noted, Matt Schaub earned a nice payday by playing well in the preseason and waiting for a team to deal for him.

That’s Walter’s hope right now and we all know that.

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For those wondering if Adrian Peterson could crack 300 yards rushing against the Raiders, he won’t. He’s out with a knee injury.

-- Jason Jones

Posted by Ahmed Ortiz at 1:48 PM | Comments |