The Raiders have lost 25-year old DE Matt Shaughnessy for the rest of the season as they have placed him on the Injured Reserve List due to a shoulder injury.  He played in 3 games for the Raiders this year and he had 7 tackles, 1 sack and 2 tackles for a loss.  Shaughnessy has now played in 35 games in his first three years with the Raiders and he has 92 tackles, 12 sacks, 12 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  This is going to hurt the Raiders a little bit as Matt Shaughnessy is a pretty decent pass rusher.

The Raiders have signed 26-year old safety Chinedum Ndukwe.  Ndukwe played in 12 games for the Bengals last year and he had 60 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1/2 a sack, 1 fumble recovery, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  He has now played in 53 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 257 tackles, 18 passes defensed, 6 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and 6 tackles for a loss.  The Raiders were lucky to find a player like Ndukwe sitting at home on his couch at this point of the season.

UPDATE:  (11/11/2011) – The Raiders have released Chinedum Ndukwe.  Ndukwe played in 2 games for the Raiders and he had 2 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass defensed.

The Oakland Raiders have acquired 31-year old QB Carson Palmer from the Cincinnati Bengals, but he didn’t come cheap.  The Raiders had to give the Bengals a first round pick in 2012 and a conditional first round pick in 2013.  Palmer played for Raiders’ head coach Hue Jackson when he was an assistant coach with the Bengals in 2004-2006.  The Raiders hope that because of that, Jackson gets Palmer quickly up to speed.  Palmer played in 16 games (all starts) for the Bengals in 2010 and he completed 362 of 586 passes (61.8%) for 3,970 yards with 26 TD passes and 20 INTs (82.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 32 times for 50 yards (1.6 ypc) last year for the Bengals.  Palmer has now played in 97 games (all starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 2,024 of 3,217 passes (62.9%) for 22,694 yards with 154 TD passes and 100 INTs (86.9 QB Rating).  Palmer has also carried the ball 179 times for 316 yards (1.8 ypc) with 5 TD runs so far in his NFL career.  Palmer is 46-51 (47.4%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  The Raiders hope that Palmer will get up to speed quickly so that he can start this weekend against the Chiefs.  This was the kind of bold move that Al Davis would have loved to pull the trigger on.

UPDATE:  The draft pick the Raiders sent to the Bengals in 2013 will become a first round pick if the Raiders make it to the AFC Championship Game in either 2012 or 2013.  If they don’t, the 2013 pick will be a 2nd rounder.

The Oakland Raiders will be without 29-year old starting QB Jason Campbell for a minimum of six weeks as he needs surgery to repair a broken collar bone.  Campbell has played in all six games for the Raiders this year and he has completed 100 of 165 passes (60.6%) for 1,170 yards with 6 TD passes and 4 INTs (84.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 18 times for 60 yards (3.3 ypc) with 2 TD carries so far this year.  30-year old Kyle Boller is next in line and he will be the starting QB this Sunday against the Chiefs unless the Raiders make a deal for a QB today.  Boller has played in 1 game for the Raiders so far this year and he has completed 8 of 14 passes (57.1%) for 100 yards without a TD pass or interception (79.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 5 times for 9 yards (1.8 ypc) so far this year.  Boller has been less than impressive as a starting QB to this point in his NFL career.  22-year old rookie QB Terrelle Pryor is now the Raiders’ #2 QB.

The Raiders have waived 25-year old cornerback Joe Porter.  Porter played in all six games for the Raiders this year and he had 10 tackles.  Porter’s roster spot was needed so that the Raiders could activate rookie QB Terrelle Pryor, who is now the #2 QB due to Jason Campbell’s injury.  The Raiders shouldn’t miss Porter too much going forward.

The Raiders have waived 26-year old LB Bruce Davis.  Davis played in 4 games for the Raiders this year and he had 4 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  He played in 10 games in his two years with the Raiders and he had 5 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.  Davis essentially lost his job because the Raiders needed his roster spot for the newly acquired Aaron Curry.

The Raiders have placed 27-year old linebacker Ricky Brown on the Injured Reserve List due to a nasty concussion.  Brown played in 3 games for the Raiders this year but he didn’t have any tackles.  Brown has now played in 58 games in his six years with the Raiders and he has 102 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 forced fumbles and 4 passes defensed.  This injury is going to hurt the Raiders’ special teams a little bit going forward.

82-year old Raiders’ owner Al Davis was found dead at his home this morning at the age of 82.  Davis was a trailblazer in the NFL.  He hired both the first black head coach (Art Shell) and the first latino head coach (Tom Flores) in NFL history!  He also coined the term “Commitment to Excellence” which was the Raiders’ motto for a long, long time.  He first came to the Raiders in 1963 as the GM and head coach.  He was 23-16-3 as the head coach of the Raiders.  The Raiders won three Super Bowls while he owned the team, winning in 1976 and 1980 in Oakland and in 1983 in Los Angeles.  Davis was elected in Pro Football’s Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio back in 1992.  He is one of the greatest owners to have ever set foot in the NFL and he will always be an icon in Raiders’ history.  This is a huge loss to the Raiders and my prayers go out to Al Davis’ family……may he rest in peace.

The Raiders have released 24-year old WR/PR/KR Nick Miller.  Miller played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Raiders but he didn’t catch any passes.  He also returned 2 punts for 19 yards (9.5 avg) and 4 kickoffs for 61 yards (15.3 avg) for the Raiders this year.  Miller played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Raiders in his two years with them and he caught 3 passes for 40 yards (13.3 avg).  Miller also returned 37 punts for 276 yards (7.5 avg) and 6 kickoffs for 98 yards (16.3 avg) in his time with the Raiders.  This move likely means that gamebreaker Jacoby Ford is finally healthy.

The Raiders have released 33-year old RB Michael Bennett.  Bennett played in 7 games for the Raiders last year and he carried the ball 2 times for 11 yards (5.5 ypc).  He also caught 2 passes for 9 yards (4.5 avg) for the Raiders last year.  Bennett also pitched in with 8 tackles on special teams last year.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Raiders.