Stanford Routt (AP)

The Raiders released cornerback Stanford Routt on Thursday after only one year into a $54.5 million, five-year contract. Routt is the first player to be considered a casualty under the new Raiders regime. The decision ended Routt’s seven-year tenure in Oakland.

Just one year prior to this decision, Routt was given one of the most desirable contracts of any cornerback by former Raiders owner Al Davis, keeping him from becoming a free agent.

Davis passed away in early October, giving new general manager Reggie McKenzie (hired in January) the opportunity to make some changes. Some of the players’ contracts were “out of whack,” McKenzie told reporters at a Jan. 30 press conference that announced the hiring of Dennis Allen as coach.

According to an ESPN report, the Raiders are close to hiring Packers director of football operations Reggie McKenzie as general manager. The teams are said to be working on an agreement to free up McKenzie to take over the job that was vacated when Al Davis died in October.

McKenzie, who played linebacker for the Raiders from 1985-88, interviews for the job Wednesday, the report states.

Former Raiders executives Ron Wolf, John Madden and Ken Herock assisted the team in its search.

“Reggie’s a tremendous evaluator,” Wolf told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday. “He can tell you who can play and who can’t. That’s what it’s all about. Some can write reports but can’t tell you who can play. Whatever that is, he has that. He has a feel.”

Since Davis’ death, the Raiders’ personnel decisions have been made by coach Hue Jackson, who put together the midseason trade for quarterback Carson Palmer.

Welcome to Thursday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY THURSDAY:
No games scheduled

AROUND THE WEB:

LeBron James has a jersey waiting for him should he decide to try the NFL during the NBA lockout.

♦ LeBron James, looking for something to do during the NBA lockout, sent out a tweet Tuesday wondering about the deadline for an NFL team to sign a free agent. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll saw an opportunity to put his recruiting skills to work, so he offered up a tryout and tweeted a picture of a LeBron Seahawks jersey. LeBron was impressed, although Carroll warned that the money wouldn’t be same as what LeBron makes with the Heat. Tweeted Carroll: are you aware of what the League’s rookie minimum is? Tweeted back LeBron: Yeah, more than what I’m making now Coach.

♦ Mark Davis is succeeding his father, Al, as owner of the Raiders. In the San Francisco Chronicle, Scott Ostler writes that the team is “drastically and irreversibly changed,” but nobody knows if it’s for the better or worse. Ostler predicts Mark will be far more hands-off and much less controversial than Al.

♦ The fan who ran onto the golf course at the Frys.com Open Sunday and threw a hot dog in the direction of Tiger Woods spoke Wednesday and explained his thinking. “I threw the hot dog toward Tiger Woods because I was inspired by the movie ‘Drive,’ ” said 31-year-old Brandon Kelly of Petaluma, Calif. “As soon as the movie ended, I thought to myself, ‘I have to do something courageous and epic. I have to throw a hot dog on the green in front of Tiger.’ ” Kelly was arrested for disturbing the peace.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Oct. 13, 2003, during a 3-2 victory over the Yankees in Game 4 of the ALCS, which Red Sox player set a team record with his fifth home run of the postseason?

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Welcome to Tuesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY TUESDAY:
No games scheduled

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ A woman who ran and walked the Chicago Marathon Sunday gave birth to a baby girl that evening. Amber Miller was nearly 39 weeks pregnant with her second child but got permission from her doctors to run half the race and walk the rest. She said she felt contractions toward the end of the course but continued on and even stopped for some food before heading to the hospital. “Everybody just kind of stared as I’m running by,” she said.

♦ On the heels of the death of Al Davis, Real Clear Sports has a list of the top 10 most significant owners. No. 9 is Celtics founder Walter Brown. Davis is No. 5, one spot behind late Yankees owner George Seinbrenner. No. 1 is Branch Rickey of the Dodgers, followed by George Halas of the Bears.

♦ The Big East announced that it is considering a model that would feature 12 football-playing schools, meaning an addition of six members. This comes after the league lost TCU to the Big 12. Boise State reportedly is on the Big East’s radar.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Oct. 11, 1975, the Red Sox defeated the Reds, 6-0, in Game 1 of the World Series. Which Red Sox pitcher not only got the win but scored the game’s first run after singling and being driven in by Carl Yastrzemski?

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After meeting with Raiders owner Al Davis, offensive guard Robert Gallery told ESPN.com Thursday that he will not return to Oakland.

“With the end of the league year coming today, and the few conversations I’ve had with the Raiders and Mr. Davis, we’ve come to a mutual agreement that it’s time for me to move on with my career,” Gallery told the site. “I appreciate the start that they and Mr. Davis gave me and I truly have enjoyed my time wearing the silver and black. I wish them well, I thank the fans and I take away great memories of my time in Oakland.”

The Raiders took Gallery with the second overall pick in 2004, and he started 91 games for Oakland. Later on Thursday, Raiders senior executive John Herrera told The Associated Press that the decision to let Gallery walk was made because of the vast difference in what the two sides though Gallery should be paid.

“”The only thing that was mutually agreed upon is his numbers were way out of line with ours,” Herrera said. “Gallery wanted about $8 million a year and that was way too much money. We’re being real honest about it. We were in the $2.5 million range. There was a huge gap there, a huge difference in what they asked for and what we wanted to pay.”

Former Raiders coach Tom Cable has filed a grievance against the team to fight fines totaling $120,000, according to ESPN.com.

Oakland owner Al Davis deducted $20,000 from six different paychecks, the article said. It is unclear why Davis fined Cable. One possible reason could be that Davis was upset over the fact the Raiders lost two days of offseason team activities in June.

Cable is not the first coach to file a grievance after being fired by the Raiders. Lane Kiffin did the same in 2008 because he felt Davis owed him money, but the NFL ruled in favor of the team.

Welcome to Friday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY:
MLB: Red Sox at Orioles, 7:10 p.m. (NESN, WEEI)

SATURDAY:
MLB: Red Sox at Orioles, 7:10 p.m. (NESN, WEEI)
MLS: Sounders at Revolution, 7:30 p.m. (CSNNE)

SUNDAY:
MLB: Red Sox at Orioles, 1:35 p.m. (NESN, WEEI)

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and team president Art Rooney II are scheduled to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in New York Friday morning to talk about the player’s six-game suspension and see if Roethlisberger deserves to have his penalty reduced. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Steelers will not ask for more than a two-game reduction. Steelers legend Terry Bradshaw weighed in, saying he hopes the league keeps the suspension at six games because, “There’s no excuse for that.”

♦ ESPN‘s Rich Cimini went to Aliquippa, Pa., in search of Darrelle Revis and couldn’t find him in a hometown that was protective of him. But he did find Revis’ grandmother, who called the Jets’ treatment of the cornerback “a slap in the face.” At Yahoo! Sports, Jason Cole writes that the Jets risk alienating Revis permanently if they don’t give the cornerback a new contract, and he explains why it would benefit New York financially to give in to Revis’ demands.

♦ Michael Silver at Yahoo! Sports has Part 1 of his NFL owner rankings. Al Davis ranks at the bottom of the list, with Mike Brown, whose Bengals play the Patriots on Sunday, next to last.

♦ Bill Plaschke in The Los Angeles Times looks at the debut of Lane Kiffin at USC. The Trojans defeated Hawaii, 49-36, in their first game since being placed on probation.

♦ Frank McCourt continued his testimony in the Dodgers ownership case, and he explained how his wife insisted her assets not be put at risk as he engineered the purchase of the team. The Los Angeles Times has the recap of McCourt’s day on the stand.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Sept. 3, 2005, which Red Sox pitcher earned the save in his 70th game of the season, setting a team record with 70 appearances in three consecutive seasons?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Honestly, I didn’t even know what to say when they told me. They were like, ‘You have no reaction.’ I was just in shock.” — Manny Delcarmen, upon joining the Rockies after his trade from the Red Sox

STAT OF THE DAY: 998 — Career RBIs for Adrian Beltre, who had one Thursday night in Baltimore an leads the Red Sox this season with 92

‘NET RESULTS: A soccer player is ejected for a tackle from behind, then decides to add to his trouble by kicking the player while he’s on the ground.

Trick bowling shots.

Ricky Rubio is the victim of the off-the-back inbounds self-pass courtesy of Lithuania’s Mantas Kalnietis.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Mike Timlin

SOOTHING SOUNDS: Donald Brewer, drummer for Grand Funk Railroad, is 62 today.