"If Trent Edwards' family members wanted to see his first exhibition game of any of the past four seasons, they would have found their options to be limited.

There are no direct flights from San Francisco to Buffalo, and one all-too-convenient itinerary suggested on a travel website was to use three different airlines and visit both Charlotte and Detroit before landing in Buffalo. All that, for the cool rate of $673 a person.

Now, they can jump on Interstate 880 from their Los Gatos home. Forty-five minutes later, they'll be sitting in the Coliseum and watching Edwards in his new No. 5 Raiders jersey.

"The lockout and becoming a free agent kind of came at the same time, so I got asked a lot where I wanted to play and what team I wanted to play for," said Edwards, who played 3 1/2 seasons in Buffalo before being claimed off waivers by Jacksonville last season. "All I said is that I wanted to be back on the West Coast.

"I got what I wanted, and I'm in a good spot."

The home cooking is coming with some costly reservations for the 27-year-old. After earning a starting role for at least some portion of each of his first four seasons in the NFL, Edwards is in Oakland's training camp as a backup."