Raiders sign tight end
The Raiders signed free agent tight end Paul Butler on Thursday.
Butler spent most of the previous two years on the Raiders’ practice squad, but was picked up late last season by the Detroit Lions as a reserve/future free agent. Butler (6 feet 6 inches, 250 pounds) also was promoted to the Raiders’ active roster in Week 17 of the 2018 season.
Butler has not played in a regularseason game.
To create room, the Raiders placed tight end Nick O’leary on the reserve/ nonfootball injury list.
prior to the vote. Enough questions arose that league officials tabled the proposal to get certain aspects ironed out.
Among them:
The uneasiness of giving a team a chance to not only convert a first down to keep possession on an untimed play, but also the opportunity to score on touchdown by completing a pass that goes the length of the field.
“If I onside kick and I recover, I can’t advance for a touchdown, whereas, in this play, I can throw it and I can go the entire distance and score in an untimed down,” explained Rich Mckay, Atlanta Falcons CEO and the chair of the competition committee. “That’s never been allowed in an onside kick play, so you’ve got to talk about is that too much of an advantage? I hate to call it an advantage, but is that too much of a new increased advantage given to this team that just scored? I don’t know. We will have to look at it.
Creating a scenario that would lesson that would “make a comeback too easy,” Mckay said.
“You’ve worked hard all game to be ahead, and you don’t want a rule change to come in and all of a sudden say, ‘We’re going to completely change the odds of you being able to
preserve that lead’,” Mckay said.
But it seems like some owners wondered if this rule would create an unfair advantage for the teams with the best quarterbacks.
In fact, one person on the conference call joked that, “Those who have Hall of Fame quarterbacks should be excluded from this discussion,” according to Troy Vincent, the NFL’S executive vice president of football operations.
Incidentally, league MVP Patrick Mahomes was 4 of 8 passing for 47 yards in 10 plays that the Kansas City Chiefs needed exactly 15 yards for a first down last season — none for a first down.
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers was the best in the NFL in that scenario, completing 9 of 10 passes for 164 yards in the 11 plays the Chargers needed exactly 15 yards for a first down. The Chargers converted five first downs in those situations, a 45 percent conversion rate.
Conversely, in onside kick situations since the NFL changed its kickoff rules, the kicking team is 11for-109 in regaining possession.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Vinnybonsignore ontwitter