Raiders Can See the Neon Lights

Retired cornerback Deion Sanders is one step closer to becoming an Oakland Raider. Now, all the Raiders are asking for is a little good will -- or at least no ill will -- from the rest of the teams in the NFL.

Sanders, 35, was put on waivers Monday by the Washington Redskins, who did so as a favor to the Raiders. But Sanders won’t clear waivers until 1 p.m. today, meaning any team with a worse record than Oakland (10-5), and sufficient salary-cap space, could block the deal by claiming him. That team wouldn’t be required to sign Sanders, only to put him on its reserve-retired list. The cap space required is $210,000 -- one-seventeenth Sanders’ 2001 base salary -- but a team would not need to actually spend anything to acquire his rights as a retired player.

So there are no financial or competitive disincentives to tampering with the Raiders’ master plan.

That said, it’s unclear why anyone would stand in the way of this deal, regardless of their feeling about the Raiders. Sanders hasn’t played in two seasons, and was a shadow of his former self in his final season with the Redskins, when he was slowed by a foot injury and at times was even targeted by opposing quarterbacks.

The Raiders have lost their three best cornerbacks to injuries. Charles Woodson is playing sparingly despite a broken bone in his right leg; Tory James is sidelined with a similar leg injury; and rookie Phillip Buchanon is out for the season because of a broken wrist.

After Sunday’s 28-16 victory over Denver, Woodson said he would not play in Oakland’s regular-season finale against Kansas City and probably would not be ready until the second week of the playoffs.

“I got a shot [before the game Sunday],” Woodson said. “But that shot probably lasted about five minutes. Right now it’s pretty cool, but as soon as I get up and walk it starts hurting. Hopefully, I get some time off and we’ll get a bye week, and we’ll take it from there.”

Woodson said Monday he would welcome the addition of Sanders, who made seven Pro Bowls and won two Super Bowl rings -- with the 49ers and Cowboys -- in 12 seasons. Woodson said it doesn’t bother him that Sanders would be hopping aboard so late to share the fruits of a third-consecutive AFC West title and a potential championship run.

“It’s all about the Super Bowl, man,” Woodson said. “I don’t care about that.”

Luring an aging star out of retirement for the playoffs isn’t unprecedented. The 49ers did it with defensive end Charles Haley for the 1998 postseason, using him as a designated pass-rusher. He then played a minor role in San Francisco’s victory over Green Bay.

Sanders, a CBS studio analyst the last two seasons, was to visit Raider headquarters in Alameda on Monday, according to a Bay Area newspaper report. But the Raiders and Sanders’ agent said that report was inaccurate.

It was Sanders who broke the news of his contact with the Raiders, doing so Sunday on CBS Sports’ “The NFL Today.” Later in the day, Raider Coach Bill Callahan seemed puzzled when asked about Sanders after the Raider victory.

“Who?” Callahan asked. “I haven’t heard anything about it.”

Asked Monday about the Sanders development, Callahan said it was “speculative” and said he preferred to talk about the strong performance of defensive backs already on the roster.

But some of those defensive players were happy to talk about the prospect of playing alongside Sanders.

“I think he’ll fit in well,” safety Rod Woodson said. “I don’t know how much he’s working out and all that, but he always stays in shape. If he does come in here, I think it’s a great advantage for this football team to have him in here.”

Receiver Tim Brown said he and his teammates started hearing whispers last week that Sanders might be on the way, some of them hearing the rumors even before their coaches heard them.

Linebacker Eric Barton counts Sanders as one of his football role models, so playing with him would be a thrill.

“That guy’s so spectacular,” he said. “Just growing up watching him, it was, ‘OK, what is he going to do now?’ every second. He was just fun to watch.”