Oakland wants Wimbley to take a paycut, but he's already said he's not interested in doing so. (US Presswire)

By Josh Katzowitz

As general manager Reggie McKenzie continues to make the Raiders a less-expensive (and possibly less-talented) club -- already, Oakland has purged cornerback Stanford Routt – it sounds like there’s a big-time conflict coming between the club and linebacker Kamerion Wimbley.

According to NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora, the team will cut Wimbley if the two sides can’t renegotiate his deal.

While the Raiders try to get under the salary cap, at this point, they’ll have to pay Wimbley $11 million for next year, including $6.5 million guaranteed (in August, he signed a $48 million deal).

Wimbley has been a valuable member of the Browns and Raiders defense since Cleveland selected him in the first round of the 2006 draft, averaging 61.5 tackles and seven sacks per season.

As the Raiders blog points out, though, Wimbley has the leverage, writing, “This is classic contract standoff. Wimbley has Raiders by the throat. They both want him and don't want his contract. Team using media.”

But if the Raiders do decide to let go of Wimbley, who said he’s not interested in taking a paycut, so they don’t have to pay him, there likely won't be a shortage of teams who are willing to compensate him for playing.

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By Josh Katzowitz

Whatever faults you  might find with Bengals owner Mike Brown -- and I haven’t been ashamed in pointing them out -- you never can begrudge the man his loyalty. And he made another example of that today as the Bengals have announced they’ve hired former Raiders coach (and former Bengals receivers coach) Hue Jackson as an assistant helping the secondary and special teams*.

Jackson, you might recall, was fired only one season into his Oakland tenure after leading the team to an 8-8 record and trading first- and second-round picks to the Bengals for quarterback Carson Palmer.

*It should be noted that Jackson doesn't appear to have ever coached defense, though he did work with special teams when he was at Cal State-Fullerton in 1990 and the World League's London Monarchs in 1991. So yeah, this totally seems like a loyalty hire.

After Al Davis’ death and the hiring of general manager Reggie McKenzie, Jackson’s stay with the Raiders was doomed. Particularly after he tore into his team following a Week 17 loss, saying he was pissed off and disappointed. “I’m going to take a stronger hand in this whole team, in this whole organization,” Jackson said at the time. “There ain’t no way that I’m going to feel like I feel today a year from now. I promise you that."

Well, that’s totally true now, because Jackson should be in Cincinnati in Week 17 of 2012.

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It’s a place where he spent 2004-06, helping mold Chad Ochocinco and T.J. Houshmandzadeh into two of the better receivers in the league. And while he had the Raiders in the race for an AFC West title this year -- until, that is, a guy named Tim Tebow emerged for the Broncos -- McKenzie decided to bring in his own coach after the season.

“A the end of the day, I didn’t win enough games, didn’t get to the playoffs,” Jackson said in January. “Once Mark (Davis, Al’s son) saw where the franchise was, after he hired Reggie, he gave Reggie the opportunity to bring in his own coach.”

There has been speculation on who actually brokered the trade that seems like it’ll pay off awfully well for the Bengals -- Jackson now says he only helped bring the Raiders and Bengals together and that those on a higher pay-grade made the final decision.

But now, Jackson is in the strange position to see how the deal works out from the opposite side of where he was when he first helped make it.

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By Josh Katzowitz

The 2011 season was a good one for Raiders cornerback Stanford Routt. Former owner Al Davis reworked his three-year, $31.5 million deal into a five-year, $54.5 million deal*, and then, he had the best statistical season of his career, notching four interceptions and 15 passes defended.

He was no Nnamdi Asomugha, but in Asomugha’s absence, he still was one of the team’s most-important defenders.

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Routt’s 2012 hasn’t gotten off to such a good start, though, as the Raiders announced they’ve released the seven-year veteran.

*It was a deal that guaranteed him $20 million, and at the time, it made him the third-highest paid cornerback in the league.

While the move is surprising, perhaps it shouldn’t have been. As the San Jose Mercury News points out, this is what new general manager Reggie McKenzie said after he took over the job:

“From where we are, we've got some contracts that are kind of out of whack, but in discussions and viewing the cap situation, we should be fine,. We don't have to make wholesale changes.”

It was thought that Routt’s $5 million salary for 2012 was guaranteed, but NFL analyst Adam Caplan reported that the money was only due if Routt was on the roster this Friday. 

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By Josh Katzowitz

Dennis Allen, the former defensive coordinator of the Broncos, has been hired to be the next Raiders head coach, CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman has confirmed (the news was originally reported by Fox’s Jay Glazer).

Reports out of Oakland suggested Allen had done well in his two interviews with the Oakland front office and that early favorite Winston Moss, the Packers assistant head coach, had not.

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In his only season as the head of Denver’s defense, he helped lead a unit that propped up quarterback Tim Tebow for the last half of the season and allowed the Broncos to win the AFC West and beat the Steelers in the first round of the postseason.

Glazer writes that the two sides still have to negotiate a deal, but with Allen, the Raiders will get a coach whose defense finished in the bottom half of the league standings but who was lauded for the improvements his unit made in the final half of the season.

Although Moss -- who knows new Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie quite well from their days together in Green Bay, leading to the speculation that he had a good chance of landing the job -- seemingly fell out of favor during the interviewing process, Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg reportedly had a good shot at landing the job.

The Raiders also interviewed Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice and former Dolphins defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, while Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy declined his chance to interview.

Considering former owner Al Davis was such a big proponent of hiring offensive-minded coaches (see: Hue Jackson, Tom Cable, Lane Kiffin, Art Shell, Norv Turner, Bill Callahan, Jon Gruden, etc.), seeing a defensive-minded coach hired is an interesting concept.

It shows that Mark Davis, Al Davis’ son who is now in charge, will take a different tact than this father. Only time will tell whether this new path is the beginning of a Raiders resurgence or if Al Davis had the right idea the whole time.

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By Josh Katzowitz

When Reggie McKenzie was hired as the Raiders general manager, the league consensus was that Packers assistant head coach Winston Moss was an early favorite, particularly since McKenzie was coming to Oakland from the Green Bay player personnel director position.

But since then, we hadn’t heard much about moss, though we know the Packers have interviewed Todd Bowles and Marty Mornhinweg and have shown interest in Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice, Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy (who declined an interview) and Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. Plus, as CBS Sports’ Charley Casserly reported Sunday, the Raiders also want to speak with Packers defensive coordinator* Dom Capers.

Turns out, though, that Moss already has interviewed for the job, all the way back on Jan. 14, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The day before the Packers lost to the Giants, Moss interviewed for four hours with the Raiders.

*Jeez, it seems like the only Packers assistant coach who the Raiders didn’t interview was the guy who ended up getting the Dolphins head coaching job.

But if you’re forecasting a favorite besides Moss, the paper has a thought on the matter.

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Writes Vittorio Tafur, “There are those who think Mornhinweg might be the new favorite for the Raiders' job. He worked with McKenzie in Green Bay and was the Packers' quarterbacks coach when Green Bay won the Super Bowl with Brett Favre. Al Davis always liked to hire offensive coaches, and maybe his son, Mark, and McKenzie follow suit.”

In other Raiders head coach news, ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting that Allen has been lined up for a second interview with the Oakland brass. That interview is scheduled to occur during this week's Senior Bowl activities in Mobile. 

Which might mean that Allen -- and not necessarily Moss or Mornhinweg -- is the favorite at this point.

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By Josh Katzowitz

Suddenly, Eagles coach Marty Mornhinweg has become a legitimate head coaching candidate again, and this time, it has nothing to do with the Colts and their new general manager, Ryan Grigson, who worked with Mornhinweg in Philadelphia.

As the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, Mornhinweg interviewed for the Raiders head coaching job on Friday. While Mornhinweg has been mentioned as a candidate to replace Jim Caldwell in Indianapolis, the newspaper writes that the Eagles haven’t been contacted for permission (and considering Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted today that he plans to hire a coach next week, it seems like Mornhinweg doesn't have a shot at that job).

While Mornhinweg failed at his only other head coaching job, going 5-27 in two seasons in Detroit in 2001-02, he’s been a solid hire in Philadelphia.

This year, via Football Outsiders, the Eagles had the eighth-best offense in the league. Since he was hired as the Eagles offensive coordinator in 2006, Philadelphia consistently has ranked in the NFL’s top-10 points scored and yards gained.

Mornhinweg left Oakland on Friday without the job, but that’s probably because new general manager Reggie McKenzie has a long list of candidates, including Todd Bowles (who’s already interviewed), Packers assistant head coach Winston Moss, new Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice, and Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.

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By Josh Katzowitz

While Winston Moss seems to be the favorite to win the Raiders head coaching job because of the Packers assistant head coach’s connection with new Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie, the organization is interviewing at least four other candidates for the job.

As the Chicago Tribune reports, the Raiders have asked permission from the Bears to interview new offensive coordinator Mike Tice, and although Chicago just promoted Tice to replace Mike Martz, the team can’t stand in Tice’s way*.

Along with Tice, the Raiders will interview Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, according to Delawareonline.com. Also, the Raiders will take a look at Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and Denver defensive coordinator Bruce Allen (hey, if you’re going to fly to Denver anyway, you might as well get two interviews with one stone).

“I think it’s very complimentary to this organization that they’re having that opportunity and to their work,’’ Broncos coach John Fox told the Associated Press. “I think any assistant coach’s aspiration is to be a head coach. It speaks for what this organization has accomplished this season. Time will tell.’’

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*This became an issue earlier this week when the Bears refused the Vikings request to interview Chicago secondary coach Jon Hoke for for the Minnesota defensive coordinator job.

Already, the Raiders have interviewed Miami interim coach Todd Bowles.

Moss most likely will receive a call as well. He played for the Raiders in the 1990s, and McKenzie, formerly an executive in Green Bay, and Moss know each other quite well.

“There’s always opportunities to put yourself in the same position as a head coach would and see how you would do things or what you would change or what you would add or what you would take away,’’ Moss said. “So with that being said, I’ve done that, I feel good about the vision, the goals, the beliefs that can be instilled within an organization that would give me the opportunity to be a head coach.’’

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Jackson's now denying he pulled the trigger on the Palmer trade. (Getty Images)

By Will Brinson

Hue Jackson, it's widely believed, dug his own grave with the Raiders. His fiery end-of-season presser probably didn't endear him to new Oakland GM Reggie McKenzie. And neither did the midseason trade for Carson Palmer, which Jackson made the ultimate decision on.

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Or did he? Jackson, appearing on 95.7 The Fan in San Francisco, was asked if his role in the trade was unfairly portrayed in the media, and that he wasn't the guy who pulled trigger on bringing Palmer to Oakland.

"No it wasn’t," Jackson said, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. "I did coach and recruit Carson in college, I was with him in Cincinnati, I do know Mike Brown because I did work there so naturally everybody is going to say it was Hue that did it. Well no, Hue was the person when it was all said and done that was able to get the sides together. The decision was made as an organization. I don’t make a decision to give away draft picks, I didn’t make a decision on how much money someone was going to make. That’s not my domain. I don’t do that.

"But no I’m not the only person. I was just a player involved in it because I knew the two parties and I knew how to get the two parties together to see if we could potentially do a deal."

We don't know how true this is. We just don't; maybe all Jackson did was get two groups of people in the same room (or on the same phone line) and grease the wheels.

But in the wake of the Raiders getting Palmer, Jackson did call it "probably the greatest trade in football." This clearly wasn't the case, because the 4-2 Raiders finished the season 8-8 and in third place in the AFC West.

The point being, though, that those aren't words coming from someone who simply brought two parties together. It was the sort of trade that, depending on how 2011 played out, might not sit well with a general manager.

Whether or not that was actually the case is now apparently a he-said/he-said sort of thing.

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