Bills' TE Smith signs three-year, $9M deal with Raiders

Departing Buffalo Bills tight end Lee Smith has become a member of the Oakland Raiders, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

According to the report, Smith's deal will be for $9 million over three years.

The Bills, meanwhile, seem to be positioning themselves to make a run at Miami Dolphins tight end Charles Clay, who received the transition tag this offseason. The tag gives Miami seven days to match any offer Clay receives from another team, though reports have Buffalo aiming high and hoping to outbid the 'Phins on the former Pro Bowler.

As for Smith, he leaves Buffalo after four years, tallying 20 receptions for 144 yards and three touchdowns in his time there.

READ MORE

Follow AFC East Daily @AFCEastDaily

Spiller: At 8-7, missing playoffs is 'a nightmare'

BY DAN BEGNOCHE

The Buffalo Bills were in the driver's seat.

At 8-6 and following a crucial home win against the playoff-bound Packers, the team held its fate in its hands going into Oakland to face the two-win Raiders.

The game quickly turned into your typical "trap" scenario, and the Bills were unable to erase an early deficit en route to their 15th consecutive year without a playoff berth.

Matchup Mashup: Your Dolphins-Raiders primer

BY EDITOR

Week 4: Miami Dolphins (1-2) at Oakland Raiders (0-3), 1 p.m.
Location: Wembley Stadium, London, England
Weather: Partly sunny, mid-70s at kickoff (accuweather)

The skinny: An under-producing offense had quarterback Ryan Tannehill's future as the starter in question this week, and the Dolphins are hoping a trip overseas can be the cure. The unit is currently averaging less than 200 yards through the air and fewer than 20 points a game, and another game's worth of inconsistency could have backup Matt Moore line for some snaps in the near future. On the other side, Oakland, despite its winless record, has put forth some strong games against AFC East teams and is hoping to take advantage of an ailing Miami roster and leave London with a "home" win. Quarterback Derek Carr has impressed at times, though his offense has had similar struggles, ranked dead last in the league in overall production. The team's hoping the return of veteran running back Maurice Jones-Drew will help the cause, though Carr will still have to deal with a formidable Miami secondary while he searches for his first pro victory.

'Ugly win better than a pretty loss' for Patriots

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The New England Patriots were supposed to blow out the Oakland Raiders with relative ease.

There was no ease Sunday afternoon.

New England's home-opener was a little tougher than expected, though the Patriots were able to fight off a pesky Raiders squad en route to a 16-9 win.

Week 3 picks: Raiders at Patriots

BY EDITOR

Publisher Nick St. Denis, associate editor Dan Begnoche and senior writer Sean Donovan pick the New England Patriots' home-opener against the Oakland Raiders.

Dan's take:
Oakland is coming into Foxboro 0-2, though they have an element of uncertainty on their side in rookie quarterback Derek Carr. The signal-caller showed signs of improvement in Week 2, and New England's defense has a mediocre history against mobile quarterbacks. The Pats own question marks on offense have been the talk of the week, though the rushing attack had no problems last week against Minnesota. Look for a trench war with opportunistic turnovers to tell the tale in this one.
Prediction: Patriots 24, Raiders 14

Sean's take:
A struggling west coast team travels cross-country to face a motivated contender that is historically nearly unbeatable at home. Seems cut-and-dry, right? There's always an element of 'any given Sunday' to every NFL contest, but the Patriots handle their business in this one. A talented, savvy New England defense harries developing rookie quarterback Derek Carr into a couple of crippling turnovers, and the offense puts on the rout.

Prediction: Patriots 41, Raiders 13

Matchup Mashup: Your Patriots-Raiders primer

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Week 3: Oakland Raiders (0-2) at New England Patriots (1-1), 1 p.m.
Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
Weather: Showers at kickoff, 50 percent chance of rain, high-70s. (accuweather)

The skinny:
The Raiders stink. Shocking, we know.  Oakland is coming off a bad loss to the Houston Texans last week, a game in which it allowed 188 yards on the ground to add to its league-worst 400 rushing yards given up through two weeks. The Patriots, meanwhile, bounced back from a Week 1 divisional loss to the Miami Dolphins by handily beating the Minnesota Vikings. Quarterback Tom Brady is still trying to get the passing game rolling, and New England is looking to cut down on its penalties. Defensively, the Patriots were dominant last week and should be able to get after rookie quarterback Derek Carr.

Rex: Our fans were better than our team today

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The New York Jets are off to a 1-0 start to the season, even if their head coach wasn't so thrilled with the way Gang Green's 19-14 home victory played out.

"Our fans were better than our team today," Rex Ryan said, via the AP.

The Jets amassed 11 penalties for 105 yards, turning the ball over twice and failing to snag a turnover of their own. Those numbers didn't sit well with Ryan.

Week 1 picks: Raiders at Jets

BY EDITOR

Publisher Nick St. Denis, associate editor Dan Begnoche and senior writer Sean Donovan pick the New York Jets' AFC bout with the Oakland Raiders.

Nick's take

The Jets' defensive front--namely Sheldon Richarson, Muhammad Wilkerson and Damon Harrison--is raring to go with a rookie quarterback in Derek Carr coming to down to make his first NFL start. Rex Ryan's group will undoubtedly wreak havoc in the Raiders' offensive backfield, but can a questionable cornerback corps hold up? On the other side of the ball, Geno Smith should attack an underwhelming Raiders secondary, though look for a heavy dose of the versatile Chris-Chris backfield.

Prediction: Jets 26, Raiders 13

Sean's take
It's always fun to put down the Raiders because they're the Raiders, but this year they field a decent roster full of promising young players and solid veteran stopgaps. Their performance in the opener hinges however on the resilience of Carr in a hostile environment against a game-planner like Ryan, who's notorious for being particularly rough on inexperienced signal callers. Oakland's defense harries Smith enough to prevent the Jets' offense from getting its wheels off the ground, and Carr's solid performance in the circumstances gives the Raiders the upset win.
Prediction: Raiders 19, Jets 13

Matchup Mashup: Your Jets-Raiders primer

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Week 1: Oakland Raiders (0-0) at New York Jets (0-0), 1 p.m.
Location: Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
Weather: Mid-70s at kickoff, no precipitation expected (accuweather)

The skinny: The Raiders come into town less than a week after naming rookie Derek Carr the starting quarterback. That has the Jets' elite defensive front frothing at the mouth, though Gang Green has major question marks in the secondary, namely at cornerback. Meanwhile, Jets second-year quarterback Geno Smith looks to pick up where he left off last season and build on the strong finish. He has an improved pass-catching corps at his disposal, along with a pretty stout backfield and offensive front.

Rex: Today, the offense picked up the defense

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Usually, it's the other way around. Sunday, it wasn't.

Despite giving up 27 points, the New York Jets won rather comfortably Sunday over the Oakland Raiders, gaining 209 yards through the air and another 143 on the ground -- and a season-high 37 points -- en route to a season-saving victory.

"Today was one of those days where the offense had to pick up the defense," Jets coach Rex Ryan said after the game, via The Star-Ledger.

Week 14 picks: Raiders at Jets

Publisher Nick St. Denis, associate editor Dan Begnoche and senior contributor Sean Donovan pick the New York Jets' AFC bout with the Oakland Raiders.

Nick's take:

The Jets have played themselves out of the realistic playoff picture the last three weeks, but until they're mathematically eliminated, every game has meaning. Gang Green also needs to see something from their rookie signal-caller -- not turning the ball over would be a start. The Raiders are among the bottom in the league in interceptions have allowed opposing passers to complete over 66 percent of their tosses. Jeremy Kerley's return to the lineup provides a spark, but the Jets lean on the run game in tough conditions while their defense demolishes Raiders rookie quarterback Matt McGloin.

Prediction: Jets 16, Raiders 9

Four Point Stance: Raiders at Jets

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The New York Jets all but officially crushed their own playoff hopes last week with their third loss in a row in yet another pathetic showing -- that time at the hands of the rival Miami Dolphins.

Gang Green (5-7), who are still mathematically alive but realistically dead, play host to the Oakland Raiders Sunday in a battle of mediocrity. And that's putting it nicely. The Raiders (4-8) have lost five games in which they've held a halftime lead, most recently to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

The RedZone channel would be best served steering clear of this one if it can help it. Otherwise, cue the complaints from paying customers. We'll still be watching, however.

Injury report: Hill shaky, but Kerley, Holmes ready

BY NICK ST. DENIS

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan said Friday that all his injured players were probable for Sunday, but by the time the official injury report came out, that wasn't the case.

Wide receiver Stephen Hill was a late downgrade, finding himself on the questionable list.

Considering Hill's lack of production this season, his fall to the questionable designation holds less weight than fellow wideout Jeremy Kerley's probable tag, as Kerley, the Jets' most reliable wideout despite missing a good part of the last month to an elbow injury, is slated to return to action this week against the Oakland Raiders.

Ross: Dolphins 'fully embrace' playing overseas

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Six NFL teams will play in three regular season games overseas in 2014. The Miami Dolphins are one of them.

The Dolphins will play "visitor" to the Oakland Raiders at London's Wembley Stadium, as announced by Commissioner Roger Goodell Thursday.

“With our historically strong following internationally, the Dolphins are proud to once again represent the league abroad as one of the six participants of the 2014 International Series,” Dolphins Chairman Stephen Ross said in a press release.

After Fins sign ex-Raiders LB, Raiders ink Burnett

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders officially completed a linebacker swap, though not by trade.

Less than a week after the Dolphins signed Philip Wheeler on the first day of free agency, the Raiders picked up veteran 'backer Kevin Burnett, according to Steve Corkran of the Bay Area News Group. (photo: Matt Britt, Flickr)

Burnett, who spent the last two years in Miami, tallied 109 tackles, 2.5 sacks and five passes defensed last season.

Jets ink West Coast-friendly tailback Mike Goodson

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The New York Jets needed a fast running back who can catch. One who isn't too expensive.

They found him. (photo: June Rivera, Flickr)

New general manager John Idzik made his first out-of-house free agent signing Friday, acquiring former Oakland Raiders tailback Mike Goodson. Goodson's deal is worth $6.9 million over three years, according to Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News.

Heyward-Bey is Johnson's latest wideout on wish list

BY DAN BEGNOCHE

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson has made numerous attempts to lure big-name wideouts from free agency to Buffalo. If it at first you don’t succeed … ask a friend for help.

Johnson’s newest target is receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who recently became available after his release from the Oakland Raiders. (photo: Jeffrey Beall, Flickr)

Wednesday, Johnson called on ESPN reporter Josina Anderson for some assistance in landing the electric receiver, an addition that would certainly bolster the team’s depleted depth chart.

Wheeler inks deal with free-agent hungry Dolphins

BY DAN BEGNOCHE

If you weren’t sure already, The Miami Dolphins want to revamp their linebacking corps.

In a third move in as many hours on Tuesday, the team has agreed to terms with former Oakland Raiders linebacker Philip Wheeler, this according to Pro Football Talk. The deal is reportedly for five years at $26 million, with half of that guaranteed. (photo: Jeffrey Beall, Flickr)

The move further complicates the team’s depth chart, and it puts an emphatic stamp on the fact that Miami came into free agency ready to make big changes, particularly on the defensive front.

Put zero stock into talk of JaMarcus Russell, Jets

BY NICK ST. DENIS

In the eighth paragraph of his Monday story about the New York Jets' plans to bring in competition for Mark Sanchez, Conor Orr of the Newark Star-Ledger had a small tidbit about Gang Green having "very exploratory, informal" discussions about JaMarcus Russell.

So of course, ProFootballTalk brought it to the forefront. (photo: The Brit_2, Flickr)

Orr later tweeted the following: "Relax people, as I said in here, talks RE: Russell were very informal," before responding "Exactly" to the notion that PFT was deceptive in their representation of his report.

Dolphins' D bends for yards, doesn't break for points

BY SEAN DONOVAN

If bend-but-don't-break was a defensive scheme, the Miami Dolphins ran a clinic in their 35-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders were able to gain yards in chunks, particularly on medium-range throws. Quarterback Carson Palmer completed 16 passes for 10 or more yards to nine different receivers. Much of Palmer's 373 total passing yards were gained after the catch as Miami's secondary also struggled in tackling.

Miami generated little pass rush and did not record a sack, despite the fact that coordinator Kevin Coyle dialed up considerably more blitzes than in Week 1. Nor were they able to force a turnover, save for a late fourth-quarter interception by safety Reshad Jones well after the outcome had been decided.

Still, the Dolphins gave up only 13 points and one touchdown, on a short screen pass that running back Mike Goodson took down the sidelines for 65 yards.