Raiders Blog and Q&A: Don't expect an Asomugha deal

Back from my last brief vacation of the offseason...

Today's 1 p.m. deadline is expected to pass without exclusive franchise player Nnamdi Asomugha agreeing to a multi-year contract with the Oakland Raiders.

After the deadline passes, Asomugha can only sign a one-year deal with the Raiders.

Why hasn't Asomugha rushed to sign the one-year franchise tender is what I'm often asked.

But why should he?

When the Raiders made Asomugha an exclusive franchise player, it meant he couldn't negotiate with other teams.

So Asomugha's agent, Steve Baker, could not go to the Raiders and say "Team X is offering $XX million over X years" to try to get a deal done.

Sure, teams can look at other players' deals, but it's not like knowing what another team would pay your player.

So the Raiders are bidding against themselves.

So the only leverage Asomugha has really had is not to sign the tender.

Nothing has developed yet, so it looks like Asomugha will get almost $10 million in salary next year, with the possibility of being franchised again in 2009.

But there's still an hour before the deadline. Do you believe in miracles? If so, something might happen.

I'll check back in later.

--Jason Jones