The Oakland Raiders have signed Isaiah Crowell and linebacker Brandon Marshall.

Crowell's one-year deal is worth up to $2.5 million, and Marshall's one-year deal is worth up to $4.1 million, according to a report.

Several high ranking executives are concerned about the precedent of Antonio Brown forcing his way off the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason with his trade to the Oakland Raiders.

Brown wanted a new contract the Steelers were never going to give him. 

“It’s a problem. Other star players see this and might want to do the same,” one source said. “I know the Steelers had a difficult situation and needed to get rid of him. But they had other options.”

Pittsburgh had Brown under contract for three more years at a total of $38.925 million.

“It was a very un-Steeler-like move,” one source said.

“He was crazy enough to pull this off,” one veteran agent said. “Most guys aren’t wired that way. The contracts and rules are in place.”

Le'Veon Bell also went down an unconventional path to accomplish his goals, which included higher guarantees.

“I’ve seen too many injuries not to value that,” Bell said. “I’ve seen the Steelers pretty much cut Troy Polamalu, a future Hall of Famer. [Polamalu retired with two years left on his contract.] AB did what he felt was best for him. My situation was different, but we both wanted to get our fair value. That’s what every player wants.”

The Oakland Raiders received the Best Transaction award by MIT for the Khalil Mack, which was explained by Richard Thaler.

Thaler won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Economics and has consulted with an NFL team about the value of draft choices and how to build a team.

Oakland received two first round picks, a third round pick and a fifth round pick for Mack and a second round pick.

“Here’s the argument,” Thaler said. “The Raiders are down, and they will be getting these [four] picks to help them rebuild their team. I believe the only way to win in football is to have players who play better than their salaries. Let’s stipulate that Mack is getting top-of-market value for his services, so it will be hard for him to play better than his salary. Let’s also stipulate Mack is worth the money. But is Mack worth all that money plus four good draft choices?

“Now Jon Gruden can build through these multiple high picks on rookie contracts instead of just having one great player being paid at a market rate. In fact, if Gruden were talking to me, I’d tell him to trade the number four pick for multiple picks. I’d trade down every year. If I had a pick in the top 10, and I wasn’t drafting a quarterback, I’d want to trade down every year. There is value in multiple high picks versus one pick in the top 10.”

Thaler believes the draft-trade value chart devised by Jimmy Johnson overvalues high picks.

“Teams still use that stupid chart,” he said. “That chart overvalues high picks. It’s a joke. High picks, to me, are over-valued stocks. Smart teams should have a portfolio manager, to basically analyze every draft decision or trade.” 

Thaler also believes NFL teams need to expand their analytics departments.

“Football,” Thaler said, “is way behind baseball and basketball. [Houston Rockets GM] Daryl Morey has a staff of I think 15 full-time analytics guys. Why wouldn’t you want to give yourself every edge when you’re building a team?”

Despite reports to the contrary, Brandon Beane says the Buffalo Bills were never close to trading for Antonio Brown.

The Pittsburgh Steelers ultimately dealt Brown to the Oakland Raiders.

Beane admitted to talking to the Steelers about what they would want for the receiver, but he never got close in talks with agent Drew Rosenhaus on an agreement for a new contract for Brown.

“We had productive talks with Kevin Colbert, with Pittsburgh, but one of the things I made clear with Kevin early on is we would have to be comfortable with where the compensation is going to have to be with AB’s representatives, and that was never something that we were even close on,” Beane said.

Vontaze Burfict has agreed to a one-year deal with the Oakland Raiders worth up to $5 million.

Burfict will reunite with defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, who held the same role with the Bengals from 2014 to 2017.

Burfict downplayed any lingering tension with former AFC North rival Antonio Brown.

"We're on the same team," Burfict said. "It's one goal. It's all positive, man. He's a great player. ... I'm going to approach him just like I do all my other teammates. ... There's nothing negative here. We're on the same team. We're trying to win a championship here.

"Honestly, we might be the closest friends on the team, you know what I mean? So, just got to go along with it, and I can't wait to meet him."

The Sloan Sports Analytics Conference at MIT honored the Oakland Raiders with the Best Transaction award, calling it the best move any franchise made in 2018 in any sport.

The move received some criticism for the Raiders within the NFL giving up a player of Mack's caliber.

But the Raiders received two first round picks, a third round pick and a sixth round pick for Mack and a second round pick.

The Oakland Raiders have released veterans A.J. McCarron and Jordy Nelson.

Nelson received a $3.6 million roster bonus in December. He caught 63 passes for 739 yards and three touchdowns over 15 games in his only season with the Raiders.

He would have seen his base salary of $3 million for 2019 become fully guaranteed on Sunday, and he had a salary-cap number of more than $5.368 million.

McCarron's $1.9 million base salary would have been guaranteed on Sunday, though a $3 million roster bonus would have been guaranteed on Friday.

During his introductory press conference with the Oakland Raiders, Antonio Brown says his ultimate goal is to pass Jerry Rice as the NFL's all-time leading receiver.

Brown has averaged 114 catches for 1,524 yards the past six seasons. No Raiders receiver in franchise history has ever reached either of those marks in a single season.

He currently sits No. 28 on the NFL's all-time receptions list with 837 catches. Rice sits first with 1,549 catches.

"My goal really is to catch Jerry Rice," Brown said. "Playing with a guy like Coach [Jon] Gruden, obviously, he knows what it takes to keep me upright and fresh. Keep me out there for a long time so it's a challenge every year to prove my love for the game. I'm just taking it one year at a time.

"Obviously, my goal in the back of my mind is to catch Jerry Rice. Every year, I have to prove my love. This year I'm out here to prove my love."

The Oakland Raiders have agreed to sign Tyrell Williams to a four-year, $44 million contract. The deal includes $22 million in guaranteed money.

Williams will become Oakland's No. 2 wide receiver behind Antonio Brown.

Williams finished with 41 catches for 653 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 2018. 

The Oakland Raiders are believed to have interest in Le'Veon Bell, but don't have enough actual cash to sign him following their moves for Antonio Brown and Trent Brown. The salary cap is not a factor at this point for whether the Raiders could sign Bell.

The Raiders are moving to Las Vegas next season and Mark Davis reportedly doesn't have as much cash liquidity as many of his fellow owners.