Jerry McDonald, one of the Bay Area sports writers worth reading, posted a compelling argument that the Raiders should take a chance on recently released Odell Thurman. As you may have noticed in recent decades Jerry, the Raiders will take a chance on anybody. In this case, McDonald's argument is that, while Thurman is a risky addition, he's so cheap and so talented that he's a risk worth taking.He's right. For those unfamiliar with Thurman, he came into the league in the same 2005 draft that gave us Alex Smith and Frank Gore. He's only 25-years-old and he's been suspended for the last two seasons, so he's relatively fresh. Well, fresh might be an overstatement. Rather, he has both knees intact. His rookie year, he compiled 98 tackles and 5 picks. Then he got suspended for drugs. Then he got suspended some more. He's missed all of the last two seasons. What can you say? Some men are passionate about their hobbies.
McDonald claims Thurman was arguably better in his rookie season than Shawn Merriman, who was selected as the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Here's the kicker - since he has been suspended the last two years, he's still under his rookie contract. In '08 and '09, he'll earn an average salary under $580K. That's peanuts! The 9ers are paying more than that for Dontarrious "Excels-At-Special-Teams" Thomas.
It's clear enough that McCloughan and Nolan are fairly risk averse when it comes to character problems, but from what I can tell, this guy just smokes weed.* Ray Lewis had a guy killed. Nolan seemed alright with that. With the open auditions the 49ers are currently holding for Ted Middle Linebacker, there's really no reason not to give Thuman a shot.
*Note: The NFL doesn't actually report what substance a suspended player has abused, so I have no idea what Thurman's been smoking.
