Kevin

Boss

Landing Boss would certainly help lessen the sting the Raiders are feeling from their stunning loss of Zach Miller. Boss is not nearly the pass catcher Miller is, but is an elite blocker. Boss has “a lot of characteristics we’re looking for,” coach Hue Jackson said. He’d be about as good a Miller consolation prize as Oakland could hope for.

“I hope to play for Tom Coughlin for all my years coming up,” Boss said. “It would be very hard to leave the Giants.” A native of the West Coast, Boss did allow that the Raiders would be interesting if they happened to lose out on Zach Miller.

It’s Boss’ first practice with Jason Campbell since August 20. He’s probably going to play against the Bills, but the tight end and his quarterback don’t figure to be on the same page right away. Boss is a low-end TE2 fantasy option.

Boss was held out as a precaution by the coaching staff. He’ll almost certainly make his Raiders debut this week, but isn’t near the fantasy radar yet.

It’s a surprising move barely six months after the Raiders handed Boss a four-year, $16 million deal, but hardly unwarranted after he caught just 28 passes for 368 yards his first season in Oakland. New GM Reggie McKenzie appears committed to cutting away the waste of the final days of the Al Davis era. A natural landing spot for Boss would be his former Giants, who are in danger of being without both Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum next season as they recover from torn ACLs.

Not technically a free agent until 4PM ET Wednesday, Boss has reportedly drawn interest from “several teams.” One year removed from back-to-back 500-yard campaigns, he won’t last long in a thin tight end market.

Chalk it up to garbage time. Four of Boss’ five receptions came after the Packers were up 31-0, and his fourth-quarter touchdown was the result of a disinterested defense. Don’t bother picking up Boss for Week 15 against the Lions.

Boss finished his first season in Oakland with 28 catches for 368 yards and three scores. He was an asset as a blocker, as usual, but Hue Jackson doesn’t use tight ends much in his passing game, nor does Carson Palmer have a history of doing so. Boss will be low on the TE2 fantasy radar in 2012 leagues.

Coach Hue Jackson was confident that Boss would be able to play against the Packers. The ex-Giant is averaging 1.7 catches for 24.5 yards on the season.

Backup Brandon Myers finished with three catches for 33 yards on Sunday, and if Boss is going to miss time then Myers will threaten to have low-end TE2 value.