The Raiders have signed 28-year old WR/KR/PR Yamon Figurs to a reserve/future contract.  Figurs played in 6 games for the Bucs and Lions last season in which he caught 1 pass for 7 yards.  He also returned 5 kickoffs for 105 yards (21.0 avg) and 2 punts for 21 yards (10.5 avg) last year.  He has now played in 32 games (3 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 3 passes for 86 yards (28.7 avg).  Figurs has also returned 80 kickoffs for 1,851 yards (23.1 avg) with a TD return and he has also returned 41 punts for 330 yards (8.0 avg) with a TD return.  This was a good signing to start the Raiders’ off-season as the special teams sucked for them last year.

The Raiders have signed 28-year old QB J.P. Losman.  Losman played in 5 games for the Bills last season and he was 63 for 104 (60.6%) for 584 yards with 2 TD passes and 5 INTs (62.3 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 12 times for 70 yards (5.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Losman has now played in 42 games in his NFL career and he has completed 558 of 941 passes (59.3%) for 6,211 yards with 33 TD passes and 34 INTs (75.6 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 103 times for 489 yards (4.7 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  Coach Cable says that Losman will be his #3 QB but don’t be surprised to see him in the game if Charlie Frye gets injured at some point the rest of the year.

The Raiders have signed RB Gary Russell.  Russell played well for the Raiders in the pre-season but he got caught in a numbers game at RB.  With Darren McFadden out of action Russell will likely serve as the #3 RB.  He has carried the ball 35 times for 98 yards (2.3 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  He was used mostly around the goal line and in short yardage situations which caused his yards per carry average to be so low.  The Raiders also cut KR Justin Miller after just one week as he returned 6 kickoffs for 106 yards (17.7 avg).  The Raiders will likely give Russell a lot on kickoffs returns now as he returned 16 kickoffs for 371 yards (23.2 avg) for the Steelers last season.

The Raiders have re-signed 25-year old CB/KR Justin Miller.   Miller played in 8 games for the Raiders and Jets last season and he made 2 tackles.  He also returned 33 kickoffs for 816 yards (24.7 avg) with 2 TDs last season.  Miller will immediately be inserted as the #1 kickoff return man.  He has now played in 42 games in his NFL career in which he has 99 tackles, defensed 8 passes and he has forced 1 fumble.  Miller has also returned 6 punts for 9 yards (1.5 avg) and 141 kickoffs for 3,745 yards (26.6 avg) with 5 TD returns in his career.  This was a smart move for the Raiders as Miller should give the offense better starting position and they need all the help they can get.

The Raiders have signed 30-year old linebacker Napoleon Harris to a 1-year contract.  Harris played in 10 games (5 starts) for the Vikings last season and he made 32 tackles and had 1 sack.  Harris has now played in 100 games (73 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 481 tackles, has 8.5 sacks, has defensed 12 passes and he has 4 interceptions.  Harris’ best seasons came in a Raiders’ uniform so they hope coming back to Oakland will revive his career.  Harris played in 45 games (38 starts) for the Raiders (2002-2004) in which he made 249 tackles, had 2.5 sacks and he defensed five passes.  With the injuries the Raiders currently have at linebacker it was a very smart move bringing Harris back.

UPDATE:  The Raiders didn’t like what they saw out of Harris cutting him just five days after he showed up.