1970 Free Agency Part 2

Following the draft, most of the remaining free agents were able to find homes relatively quickly. The remaining 4 players from the top 25 free agents (DB Jayson Klyde, RB Ronald O’Sullivan, WR Doug Piva, and QB David Simmons) all found a home. DB Jayson Klyde would ink a 1-year, $20,000 deal to head west to the Minnesota Serpents. RB Ronald O’Sullivan would head back to Pittsburgh where he finished last season. The Blacksmiths enjoyed having him as an extra receiving option. WR Doug Piva would go to Louisville to compete for WR3, and finally the former 1st Round QB, David Simmons would head to Long Island. Simmons had been someone that the Raiders were interested in when he was entering the draft in 1967, but the team did not have a 1st round pick that season. 

The Serpents continued to be busy after landing Klyde making a pair of trades to move some talent from some crowded positions. 26-year-old, WR Edward Webb was not happy about having a limited role during his first season with the Serpents, so he wanted either to have a larger role or to be traded. In the end, he would be dealt to the Providence Gold Stars along with a 1971 4th Round Pick in exchange for 24-year-old OL Bobby Shields and a 1971 3rd Round Pick. They would then add WR Denis Langlois in free agency to fill in the extra WR spot.

Also, with the signing of Jayson Klyde, the team had a crowded secondary as well so they shipped 25-year-old, DB Ross Conroy to the Raiders for veteran DB Nick Ulbach and a 2nd Round Pick in 1971. Ulbach needed to come over for cap reasons and for Minnesota to maintain some depth.