Heyward-Bey Signed, Sealed, Being Delivered
Raider Nation celebrates signing
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Darrius Heyward-Bey has agreed to terms and is will begin training camp with the Raiders.
Welcome Darrius Heyward-Bey back to your good side, Raider fans. The controversial seventh overall pick in the draft has agreed to a Raider contract Thursday morning and will now bring his 4.25 40-yard dash speed to Napa for Oakland Raiders training camp.
The news was broken Thursday morning on Adam Schefter's Twitter account, and shortly afterward the Chronicle's David White tweeted that DHB was on his way to camp. I think these players with "three-letter acronym" nicknames are going top be very popular among the Twitter set.
Financial details aren't currently available, bit DHB's agent Ben Dogra told NFL.com that Heyward-Bey has agreed to a five-year deal. He hasn't actually signed the contract yet, but is expected to do so first thing Friday morning.
Good for the Raiders and Ben Dogra for not waiting for the market to be set by the #6 and #8 picks. The Raiders need Heyward-Bey in camp yesterday, and it appears they were appropriately aggressive in getting a deal completed.
Additional pressure to get DHB in camp came down because Javon Walker was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list. I like Johnnie Lee and Chaz Schillens as much as the next guy, but those two alone do not constitute a starting receiver corps. Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated was onhand in Raiders training camp yesterday and saw Walker. "WR Javon Walker just walked out seven minutes before the start of Raiders practice," Trotter said on his Twitter account. "He's in shorts w no pads. Likely no team work for him."
I'm not happy to hear that. But I am happy that people have finally found a legitimate use for Twitter!
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who has prayed the rosary for Darrius Heyward-Bey's hamstring.
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Posted Thursday, Jul 30, 2009 - 1:38 PM PST
