I tweeted my brains out about rumors of the Raiders being interested in Josh Freeman. I should have been sharing my thoughts here on the web page that I PAY FOR and where people actually come to READ WHAT I WRITE. In a nutshell, what I said was that it takes patience to rebuild a team and if the Raiders sign Freeman it would signal to me that they don’t have that patience. Terrelle Pryor, or as I call him “Not Chris Brown” has been a stun gun since he earned the starting position. He’s breathed new life into a team that has been the butt of jokes and scorn for far too many seasons.

Terrelle Pryor earned his start. There’s no reason for the Raiders to be looking at side pieces.

Admittedly, I rooted for Pryor to start not knowing how well he could play, but looking at the Raiders other options I didn’t see why they wouldn’t take a chance. The NFL can be overly conservative sometimes reaching out for what appears to be the safest option and in the end the result is often garbage. This desire to protect and to limit risk is why Matt Flynn was signed off of a good performance in one garbage time game and collected 14 million dollars from the Seahawks and later the Raiders for doing not a damn thing. Well, actually he did do something, he lost a VERY winnable game against the Washington Redskins.

My point is, some QBs get the benefit of the doubt. Others don’t. Jason Campbell didn’t get it. Carson Palmer did…twice. And so on and so on. On the field is one thing, but in life must we ALWAYS punt on 4th down?

But back to rebuilding, the Raiders are in a similar situation to the Browns. Years of mismanagement of the organization have now led to an overhaul and new regimes taking over. The biggest challenge from a public perception standpoint is building trust with the fans. Being methodical and showing fans and media that there is a real desire to do what it takes to win. Sometimes that translates into spending ridiculous amounts of cash for past prime players just for the opportunity to win 8 or 9 games and compete in the first round of the playoffs. But what it should mean is making a sacrifice for a couple seasons as you straighten out your salary cap situation, evaluate your roster, and take a serious look at your options at Quarterback.

In Oakland, Reggie McKenzie seems like a man who is very serious about making the Raiders a respected organization again. Signing Josh Freeman would have been a silly move and rightfully put confidence in his leadership at risk. Let’s say the Raiders signed Freeman and he played terribly? Then the story is that McKenzie might have a new regime but it’s really just the  ”same old dysfunctional Raiders.” Remember, this is a GM who cleaned house in the truest sense of the word. This is not a time to revert back to old tactics. Not when your QB has the trust of his teammates. And not when they’re winning games while legitimately low on weaponry. Pryor is one of the real bright spots for the Raiders and it’d be a shame if everyone could see it except for the folks sitting the closest.

So kudos to the Raiders for staying on the path of patience. I think it will pay off in the end.