A new coaching staff came in and handled things so badly that they have deactivated their #2 WR and traded their #3 WR already. Their team got decimated by a division rival in the first game. Think the coaching staff has much support in the locker room now? I don't. This team could come apart in a few more weeks.
The way to handle it is for Shell to meet with Porter, fine him for the behavior, and start having him run as WR#2 in practice. Discipline for misbehavior, getting some use out of a decent player. Both would benefit the coaching staff and the team.
Getting nothing out of him for the whole year is absolutely stupid.
Well, that would be the end of the discipline era for Art Shell. One thing that I think needs to be understood about Porter:
This is not a guy that the staff picked on, and then he just got fed up and demanded a trade. What makes Porter's trangressions so unforgiveable, is that he's been considered Al Davis' "boy" since he got here. He had problems with Gruden right from the beginning, complaining about PT (poor guy was sitting behind Rice and Brown). He had nagging injury problems, and a primadonna routine that is usually reserved for receivers with much more impressive resumes. Yet he got a new contract, pretty quickly, and without any kind of negotiation. We didn't even know that he was in negotiations, and bam, he had a new deal. This seemed to confirm the "Al Davis favorite" status.
He got into an argument with Shell and Belitnikoff before the season started. We've heard Porter's version of the story, and even that just seemed to be the most mild of disagreements. Yet, suddenly, Porter is irate, he wants out, he's yammering on about how he wanted Mike Martz as coach, and on and on.
Whatever support the team has in the locker room, you think it's going to
improve by playing Porter? This is an incredibly young team, and Shell is trying to establish his rules. Giving Porter playing time is sending the message loud and clear: Do whatever you want.
The Raiders showed they had problems last night, but a WR is not one of them. Man, if Porter played left tackle, you migth have an argument. How on earth is Porter gonna help this team? What is he gonna do that Ron Curry can't do?
If they can trade him swell. If not, let him rot on the bench, hopefully become a forgotten man, and then get rid of him after the year. The Raiders are in rebuilding mode, it's more important to play the guys that are gonna be here for the long haul.