LaMarr Woodley believes Raiders are playoff contender

The Raiders have gone the past 11 seasons without reaching the postseason.

The last time they did so was in 2002, when they lost to the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. Since then, there have been a lot of disappointing moments for the Raiders.

But outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley believes that trend will change this season. The Raiders made an effort to spend a lot of money in free agency and have brought in a lot of quality players, including himself, Justin Tuck, Maurice Jones-Drew and Matt Schaub.

"I can definitely see us as a playoff team," Woodley told radio station KGMZ-FM, via NFL.com. "Last year going back and watching some film on the Raiders, there were a lot of opportunities here where they just didn't close it out. Some games good in the first half, they just didn't close it out at the end of the game. So now we just have to learn how to close out games and it'll be more wins than losses."

The offseason acquisitions are certainly a start for a once-proud franchise. Now it's time to see if the spending the money pays off.

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This story originally appeared on Nationalfootballpost.com