Oakland Raiders Sign John Henderson to One-Year Deal

After his somewhat surprising release from the Jacksonville Jaguars, John Henderson had an even more surprising wait in free agency before a team finally stepped up and made him an offer.

And as is usually the case when over-30 free agents just on the other side of their prime hit the free agent market, the Oakland Raiders was the team that came calling.

But unlike some of their other moves that littered their team with guys five years removed from the Pro Bowl, Henderson might actually have something left and be able to contribute before age forces him out of the league completely. He’s only 31, but his work ethic was questioned in Jacksonville and could lead to a lot of injuries.

Also showing some sort of sanity out of that Raiders front office (AKA Al Davis) is that Henderson is only playing on a one-year deal and not the 5-year $40 million deal I was expecting once I heard he was in the black hole.

Henderson is versatile enough to fit into the Raiders’ 3-4 hybrid defense they’ll most likely be running in 2010, so it’s certainly not a bad signing. Putting him across from Richard Seymour and giving that defense some real veteran leadership could translate into a few more notches for the win column.