Barber: Donald Penn's holdout a reality check for Raiders

NAPA - I got to the Napa Valley Marriott a little after 10:30 a.m. Saturday, slapped a stick-on credential to my shirt, walked through the gate into Raiders training camp and thought, “Where the hell am I?”

The shell of the facilities hasn't changed much since I covered the team as a beat writer from 2003 to 2007. There are still two full-sized practice fields (which are technically part of Redwood Middle School), an outdoor weight area with stationary bikes and a giant shed into which players disappear to shower and dress.

But the atmosphere has entered another dimension. When I covered the Raiders, and in many of the years since, training camp arrived with the excitement of sunrise at a hard-labor camp in the desert. Oh sure, lip service was paid annually to a new start, a new culture and, more often than not, a new head coach and quarterback.

But it always arrived with a distinct “Groundhog Day” vibe. And in those days, training camp was sort of a private affair. A dozen reporters and a few camerapeople would join team officials and summer staffers on the sidelines. Frequently, there were no fans to be seen.

Compared to that sleepy scene, Saturday was Mardi Gras. A long line of bleachers was set up along the west side of the far field, and the seats were packed with a rotation of season ticket holders. They were loud, too. The team has even employed hype men and women to generate some call-and-response: “Say it again! Rai-der!” “Rai-der!” “Na-tion!” “Na-tion!”

The media presence was substantial, too, bolstered by a contingent from Las Vegas; a reporter from the Las Vegas Review-Journal said there were four people there from his newspaper alone.

To multiply the excitement, this was Alumni Weekend for the Raiders, and the organization welcomed more than 100 of its retired players, a varied cast that included the likes of Ted Hendricks, Henry Lawrence, Jerry Robinson and Langston Walker.

Coach Jack Del Rio talked about how excited he was to meet former linebacker Jeff Barnes, who preceded him at Hayward High. Del Rio played Little League baseball with Barnes' younger brother, Kim. Or as the coached called him: “Pooh Bear.”

The difference in mood is partly explained by NFL evolution. Teams, sensing marketing opportunities, have made their camps more public.

But it also has to do with the Raiders' evolution. These guys are legitimately exciting now. They were a playoff team last year, and who knows, if it weren't for Derek Carr's broken ankle, they might have been a playoff winner. After a spending spree by general manager Reggie McKenzie and another year for Carr to mature, there is every reason to believe the Raiders can compete for a spot in the AFC championship game.

In other words, the first day of training camp served as a reminder of everything that has gone right for this team lately. And also, the things that can go wrong.

Because there was a sour note on Saturday. It twanged in the background while the pads popped and the air horns blew and the fans cheered for Marshawn Lynch.

Left tackle Donald Penn is holding out.

First, for the record: Donald Penn has every right to hold out. By any metric or measure or gut feeling, he is one of the very best players at one of the toughest positions in the NFL.

Pro Football Focus had Penn rated in the top 10 among all NFL offensive linemen last year, and he allowed just one sack in 676 pass-blocking snaps. (In a bitter twist, that one sack led to Carr's season-ending injury.) And he accomplished all of that while playing in a division populated by some of the league's most fearsome pass rushers.

In this context, Penn's scheduled base salary of $5.8 million is a bargain.

Penn plays in a league that favors management to a huge degree. A lot of fans are outraged when a football player holds out. But because almost no NFL contracts are guaranteed, teams can, and do, terminate years of a deal simply by cutting a player. If a team can rip up a contract like that, why can't a player? Essentially, it's their only leverage.

So, to be clear, I don't necessarily blame Penn for this situation. But I do want to emphasize that it's a situation.

You might not have gleaned that from the Raiders' post-practice interviews Saturday.

“We love Donald. He's a good Raider, a good player,” Del Rio said. “What's important for us is to focus on the work here. On the guys that are here. And that's how we're gonna approach it.”

On other words: We love Donald Penn, but we'll move forward without him.

“I'd never put my hands in another man's pockets. I'll stay far away from that,” Carr said. “Everyone here, top to bottom, loves him. He knows that. But we're focused on who's here and getting better.”

Translation: We love Donald Penn, but we'll move forward without him.

Later, someone asked Carr about Marshall Newhouse, the free-agent acquisition who took Penn's place at left tackle on Saturday. “He's really good. Really athletic. … He looks very light on his feet. But at the same time, when he strikes you he's heavy, if that makes sense.”

Translation: We love Donald Penn, but we'll move forward without him.

Don't be fooled. Newhouse does not equate to Penn. Just like it wasn't the same when Khalif Barnes, Mario Henderson or Kwame Harris was playing left tackle for the Raiders. Not to say that Penn's absence would cripple Todd Downing's offense. But it would make a real impact.

That's why the reminder is useful. Football is a complicated game, affected by so many contributors at once.

The most talented teams can be sidetracked by injuries - the vicious ones that cut players down and the nagging ones that diminish them over a period of weeks - or by personality conflicts or by the failure of coaches to counter their opponents' strategies.

Or by contract holdouts.

The Raiders have every reason to be optimistic this season, to expect to be playing deep into January. But there will be a lot of hurdles along the way. The first one arrived on Day 1. It won't be the last, not even close.

You can reach columnist Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.