Raiders agree to terms with WR Ashley Lelie

[tomkent53]

The Raiders have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with wide receiver Ashley Lelie, MediaNews beat writer Steve Corkran is reporting.

Lelie failed to make the 53-man roster of the San Francisco 49ers, who like the Raiders are having issues finding quality receivers. He caught 10 passes for 115 yards with the 49ers last season and never made much of an impact.

A former first-round pick out of Hawaii by Denver in 2002, Lelie’s relationship with the Broncos soured and he held out, incurring fines of $14,000 per day until he was traded to the Atlanta Falcons in a three-team trade that included the Washington Redskins.

After catching 28 passes for 430 yards and one touchdown in 15 games and 11 starts with Atlanta, Lelie bought out the second year of his contract to be a free agent and signed with the 49ers.

For his career, Lelie has 206 receptions for 3,552 yards, an average of 17.2 yards per catch, and 13 touchdowns.

Lelie’s acquisition comes as the Raiders begin preparation for Denver, giving Oakland two receivers _ Javon Walker and Lelie _ with knowledge of how Denver operates.

Considering the Raiders have been playing against the Mike Shanahan system twice a year since 1995, and even imported much of it to their own offensive system, it’s doubtful there is much Lelie or Walker can tell the Oakland braintrust something they don’t already know.

With coach Lane Kiffin expressing a preference to carry five receivers, either camp standout Todd Watkins or seventh-round pick Chaz Schilens could be the odd man out.

The Raiders will also have to trim a player when they add fullback Luke Lawton to the roster. Lawton was at the facility working out Monday and said he was going to sign a contract.

Besides Watkins or Schilens, those who could be affected include linebackers Robert Thomas and Sam Williiams, as well as defensive tackle William Joseph, who drew a lukewarm review from Kiffin Sunday after initially making the 53-man roster.

Thomas sustained a dislocated kneecap last week but was walking without a limp in Seattle, although he didn’t play. He is scheduled for a $2 million salary but is not a starter. Non-starting linebackers with big salaries in the past who ended up being released include Greg Biekert and Danny Clark.
Williams consistently ran third behind Ricky Brown and Thomas throughout training camp.

Source: http://www.ibabuzz.com/raidersblog/2...rs-sign-lelie/

[P J Shaker]

wow....GREAT MOVE RAIDERS...haha i thought lelie was like 50 by now....

[cruzg24]

I heard theyre trying to sign Ed Mccaffrey as well to complete the trio of Broncos WR's. Rod Smith perhaps??? lol

Lelie is a decent 3rd WR at best. Lelie is a pretty good deep threat from what I've seen.

[P J Shaker]

they might as well go after Lynch too..and get the rest of the NFL's garbage.....Darius...i feel for you man...

[tomkent53]

I saw they were going for former Pats WR Chris Johnson too.

[Darius Ali]

YES. I like this. Ashlie is a pure deep threat. Thats it. But thats what we need from our 3rd WR which he will be. He will help out our weak Wideout core.

[tomkent53]

I had a feeling Darius would be happy when he saw this.

[Darius Ali]

Well, of all the trash last night Ashlie was one to stand out. Caught a few good balls including a TD pass in the corner that he snatched away from the corner.