The Oakland Raiders have been one of the most interesting teams to follow this offseason after general manager Reggie McKenzie has gone to work signing new free agents and one that has been the most exciting for the franchise is punter Chris Kluwe.
The former Vikings punter fits in perfectly with the Raiders with his outspoken attitude and now he has the chance to take over for likely Hall of Famer Shane Lechler for the team after signing this offseason. Many felt that the Vikings cut him due to his outspokenness about gay marriage and other issues, but obviously they have denied that, even though it is likely true. Kluwe is one of the most interesting players in the NFL and he spoke to ESPN.com about how he is adjusting to the team and about his new book "Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies."
Kluwe was with the Vikings for a number of years and played in 127 games for them during his career, leaving with a 44.4-yard career average and he also has the second best numbers in team history with a 37.3-yard net average. Kluwe went to college in California at UCLA and went to high school in Southern California, making the move to the Raiders a homecoming for him of sorts.
The Vikes released Kluwe as he was set to make $1.45 million this season and now he comes in and will play against Marquette King in training camp to see who will be the starting punter. Kluwe put up good numbers last season despite ranking 22nd in the NFL in average yards per punt and he had the 17th best net average in the league last season and finished 31st in the league with 18 punts inside the 20. The Raiders are transitioning from stalwart Lechler and now will have to decide between the raw and untested, but strong King, or the accurate and solid Kluwe.
Lechler left for the Texans after spending 13 seasons with the Raiders and now McKenzie will have to decide on who will punt. The Raiders have made a number of improvements this past offseason and are expected to do better than the 4-12 record they had last season. The team added Tracy Porter, Charles Woodson, DJ Hayden, Kevin Burnett, Nick Roach and more on defense and also brought in Matt Flynn to take over as quarterback from Carson Palmer.
