Raiders will flip for No. 3 draft pick

ALAMEDA — The Raiders won only four games this season. However, they gained some consolation by edging out the Kansas City Chiefs in a tiebreaker for which team selects higher in the NFL draft in April.

The Miami Dolphins (1-15) earned the No. 1 pick, followed by the St. Louis Rams (3-13). The next four selections came down to a tiebreaking procedure among the Atlanta Falcons, Raiders, Chiefs and New York Jets at 4-12.

Atlanta, Kansas City, and Oakland had the same strength-of-schedule (.516). The Raiders won a tiebreaker with the Chiefs based on their having a worse record in common games. The Raiders were 2-12 in such games, the Chiefs 3-11.

So, the Raiders will get the rights to a pick ahead of the Chiefs. That pick will be either the No. 3 or the No. 4, pending a coin flip between the Falcons and Raiders at the scouting combine in February.

The Falcons will pick third if they win the coin flip, the Raiders fourth and the Chiefs fifth. If the Raiders win the flip, they will pick third, and the Falcons and Chiefs will be involved in another coin flip to determine the fourth and fifth slots.

The Raiders had the rights to a top-seven selection each of the past four years. With those selections, they drafted left offensive tackle Robert Gallery (No. 2), traded the No. 7 pick to the Minnesota Vikings as part of compensation for receiving receiver Randy Moss, drafted strong safety Michael Huff (No. 7), and drafted quarterback JaMarcus Russell (No. 1).

Free agents abound

The Raiders have 20 players on their roster who will become restricted or unrestricted free agents unless the Raiders re-sign them between now and Feb. 29:

Quarterbacks Daunte Culpepper and Josh McCown, running back Justin Fargas, wide receivers Jerry Porter and Tim Dwight, center Jeremy Newberry, right offensive tackle Cornell Green, defensive ends Tommy Kelly and Chris Clemons, defensive tackle Tyler Brayton, linebackers Sam Williams and Jarrod Cooper and cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha are set to become unrestricted free agents.

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