in recent years. A pending

As soon as Jordy Nelson was released by the Green Bay Packers Kris Versteeg Jersey , the Oakland Raiders put on a full-court press to acquire the former Pro Bowler.

His former position coach and coordinator in Green Bay, Edgar Bennett, and new Raiders coach Jon Gruden immediately called to bring him out for a free-agent visit. Quarterback Derek Carr picked him up at the airport and gave him a tour of the Bay Area.

Then the Raiders offered a two-year deal worth a reported $15 million that persuaded him to cancel his other scheduled visits and sign with Oakland.

"The plan was to make some other trips, but you never know what's going to happen," Nelson said Thursday. "You get to place and you enjoy it and they enjoy it. Obviously, there's a financial part of that. One thing I didn't want to do is fly around the country just because. I didn't want to waste my time or anyone else's time."

The Raiders wasted little time Thursday attempting to rebuild under their first-year coach, releasing receiver Michael Crabtree to make room for Nelson; signing safety Marcus Gilchrist, linebacker Tahir Whitehead, running back Doug Martin and fullback Keith Smith; and finalizing deals with blocking tight ends Derek Carrier and Lee Smith that had been agreed to earlier in the week.

But the most high-profile move came at receiver, where Nelson hopes to bounce back from a down season and help Carr and the Raiders get back to the high level they produced at in 2016.

The 32-year-old Nelson struggled last season with 53 catches for 482 yards and six TDs, recording a career-low 9.1 yards per reception as Aaron Rodgers missed more than half the year with injuries.

"I can make plays," Nelson said. "I look forward to just getting out, getting in rhythm with Derek and start forming that chemistry with him that I've had with Aaron for the last 10 years. Continue to build off that. Just see what happens. Go out there and play my role in this offense. Make the plays that are available."

Nelson had made the Pro Bowl in 2014 and won AP Comeback Player of the Year in 2016 when he led the league with 14 touchdown catches a year after missing the entire season with a right knee injury.

Nelson had four 1,000-yard seasons in Green Bay, including 1 Cam Fowler Jersey ,519 yards on 98 catches in 2014. In 136 career games, he has 550 catches for 7,848 yards and 69 TDs.

Crabtree had a $7.7 million cap hit for this season but there is no dead money with his release. The 30-year-old Crabtree had 232 catches for 2,543 yards and 25 touchdowns in three seasons with the Raiders.

The other big moves came on defense where Oakland added two potential starters to fill holes at safety and linebacker.

Whitehead joins the Raiders after spending his first six seasons with Lions. He has 378 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, four interceptions and 18 passes defensed in 93 career games.

Gilchrist has played seven seasons with the Chargers, Jets and Houston. He has 11 interceptions, 33 passes defensed, four sacks, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He will likely step in as a starter alongside Karl Joseph.

Martin, who grew up in nearby Stockton, is a two-time Pro Bowler but averaged just 2.9 yards per carry the past two seasons, the lowest for any back in the league. That was part of what led to his release by the Buccaneers last month.

He joins a running back room that is currently led by Marshawn Lynch Miles Wood Jersey , along with youngsters DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard.

"I have been the lead back for most of my career, but what enticed me in coming here is the potential for this team," Martin said. "We have Gruden coming. The front line and just being home. I was born here. This is my homecoming. Those are the things that enticed me on signing here."

The 29-year-old Martin rushed for 1,454 yards as a rookie in 2012, including 251 in a win at Oakland. He also ran for 1,402 yards in 2015 but has failed to reach 500 yards in any of his other four seasons as he was hampered by injuries and a suspension for performance-enhancing substances.

Keith Smith gives the Raiders another fullback along with Jamize Olawale. Smith, a converted linebacker, played only sparingly on offense with the Cowboys but was an important part of the special teams under coordinator Rich Bisaccia, who now holds the same job with the Raiders.

Carrier has 36 catches for 327 yards and one TD in 50 games in his career. He caught eight passes for 71 yards last season with the Rams.

Lee Smith joined Oakland originally as a free agent in 2015 and has been a strong run blocker in his three years with the team. He played 35 games, missing most of the 2016 season with a leg injury. He has 26 catches for 175 and one touchdown with the Raiders.

Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers’ use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.

Brown’s attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of ”discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race.” The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them.

”Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims … the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated,” Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.

Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him down because he didn’t immediately remove his hands from his pockets as ordered. An officer yells: ”Taser! Taser! Taser!”

Brown had been cooperative with officers and never appeared to threaten police before or during his arrest Anders Bjork Jersey , according to police body-camera videos.

Some officers suspected Brown might have a firearm because they saw paper targets with holes in the back seat of his car, according to the lawsuit. Brown told officers he didn’t have a gun when they asked him, but they didn’t give him ”any real opportunity to comply” to their command that he take his hands out of his pockets, the lawsuit said.

Mayor Tom Barrett said in a statement he hopes something good comes from the lawsuit.

”I’m hopeful this incident will be a turning point and allow us to take those actions necessary to improve police community relations,” he said.

Police Chief Alfonso Morales has not responded to an Associated Press request for comment.

Morales apologized to Brown last month when body-camera video of the arrest was released. Brown wasn’t charged with anything and three officers were disciplined, with suspensions ranging from two to 15 days.

Eight other officers were ordered to undergo remedial training in professional communications.

A group of officers discussing the arrest shortly after it happened talked about ”trying to protect” themselves from possible backlash over their confrontation with an NBA player and synchronized ”their stories concerning what took place in the parking lot,” the lawsuit said.

Some of the details from their report made it into Morales’ written complaint about the officers’ actions, according to the lawsuit, with the chief saying Brown ”refused to comply with a directive to remove his hands from his pockets and became resistive towards officers.”

One officer reacted to the arrest with glee, according to the lawsuit, which showed screenshots of him going on Twitter to mock Brown.

”Nice meeting Sterling Brown of the Milwaukee Bucks at work this morning! Lol(hash)FearTheDeer,” one tweet read, referencing a slogan used to cheer on the Bucks at games. That same officer posted a racist meme of Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant, according to a screenshot from the lawsuit.

Police have only released the body camera video of the first officer who contacted Brown. But additional body camera and squad car videos showed the moments after officers used a stun gun on him. In one, Brown is on the ground and handcuffed when an officer puts one of his boots on Brown’s ankle Patric Hornqvist Jersey , holding it there. Brown doesn’t mention being in any discomfort but he questions the officer’s actions.

”C’mon man, you’re stepping on my ankle for what?” Brown said. In response, the officer said he was trying to prevent Brown from kicking anyone.

Other videos showed an officer talking with two colleagues seating in a squad car. They talked about how they could be perceived as racist for arresting a black Bucks player, with one saying if anything goes wrong, it ”is going to be, `Ooh, the Milwaukee Police Department is all racist, blah, blah, blah.”’

Brown told the Journal Sentinel in an interview last month that he ”gave in” when police used a stun gun and that he didn’t do anything to resist because he didn’t want officers to ”pull out their guns.”

”I was just being smart. I just wanted to get out of the situation and get home,” he said.

The lawsuit adds to a long list of litigation against the police department alleging officer misconduct in recent years. A pending lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union in Wisconsin accusing the department of targeting black and Latino residents to stop and question them without cause. The city is in settlement talks with the ACLU.

Last year, Milwaukee paid $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of Dontre Hamilton, a mentally ill black man fatally shot by a police officer after the officer roused him from a park bench downtown.

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