Raiders Sign Rookie DT Eddie Vanderdoes
The Raiders have signed third-round defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes, the club announced today.
Vanderdoes, the 88th overall selection, spent four seasons with UCLA but only saw action in three of those campaigns, as he tore his ACL in the 2015 season opener and was granted a medical redshirt. In 2016, the 6’3″, 305-pound Vanderdoes appeared in 11 games, managing 27 total tackles and 1.5 sacks. Prior to the draft, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com compared Vanderdoes to current Seahawks interior defender Ahtyba Rubin, while Pro Football Focus lauded Vanderdoes’ quick hands and low pad level.
The Raiders released veteran defensive tackle Dan Williams this offseason, so Vanderdoes will certainly have an opportunity to pick up some of Williams’ 366 defensive snaps. At present, Oakland is projected to start Jihad Ward and Justin Ellis at defensive tackle, with Darius Latham, Vanderdoes, and fellow rookie Treyvon Hester in reserve.
With Vanderdoes, only eight 2017 draft picks remain unsigned, and that list that includes two other Raiders: first-round cornerback Gareon Conley and second-round safety Obi Melifonwu.
Next Raiders To-Do: Sign MLB
- Although they play slightly different positions, Jaguars center Brandon Linder could use Raiders guard Gabe Jackson‘s recent five-year, $56MM extension as a benchmark in negotiations, opines Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. The 25-year-old Linder graded as the NFL’s No. 5 center in 2016, per Pro Football Focus, but he’s slated to earn just $1.797MM next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in the spring. As O’Halloran notes, Linder and Jackson were selected just 12 spots apart in the third round of the 2014 draft. Because he wasn’t a first-round choice, Linder isn’t eligible for a fifth-year option in 2017, and the franchise tag isn’t an option for an interior lineman.
- Now that the Raiders have locked up Jackson and quarterback Derek Carr, the next item on the club’s offseason itinerary is finding a middle linebacker, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com, who tosses out both Perry Riley and Rey Maualuga as possible fits. I recently named both Riley and Maualuga among the five best unsigned linebackers in the league, along with DeAndre Levy, Daryl Smith, and D’Qwell Jackson. Riley, of course, spent the 2016 campaign in Oakland and experienced a career resurgence after several middling seasons with the Redskins. At present, the Raiders are fielding Cory James, Ben Heeney, and Tyrell James at middle linebacker.
Latest On Derek Carr’s Contract
Derek Carr‘s five-year, $125MM contract makes him the highest-paid NFL player and the first to break the $25MM-AAV barrier. Some of this deal’s specifics — like Carr’s $70MM guaranteed and $40MM fully guaranteed at signing — have been reported, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports some key details in the agreement on Sunday.
Carr received a $12.5MM signing bonus and will make $5MM in 2017 base salary. According to OverTheCap, the 26-year-old quarterback will have a 2017 cap figure of $15.73MM. For the ensuing five years, Carr’s cap figures are as follows: $25MM (2018), $22.5MM (’19), $21.5MM (’20), $22.13MM (’21) and $19.88MM (’22).
As for how the guarantees in these years are structured, Carr picked up a $7.5MM roster bonus on June 30 to add to his 2017 total. For 2018, his $7.4MM base salary is guaranteed for injury only at signing, but Florio reports that will be fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2018 league year. A $15MM roster bonus will come Carr’s way on Day 3 of the ’18 league year as well. That will be paid within 15 days of that March date, per Florio.
In 2019, Carr’s deal is less complicated. He will earn a base salary of $19.9MM for his age-28 season. It’s structured like his ’18 salary, being guaranteed for injury only at signing but fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2019 league year. For 2020, the base pay is $18.9MM, with $2.9MM of that guaranteed for injury at signing. Carr’s 2021 and ’22 bases are worth $19.53MM and $19.78MM, respectively. Both figures are non-guaranteed, according to Florio. Of course, Carr could be operating on his third contract by then.
Where Carr will be playing matters now as well.
With Nevada not having a state income tax and California’s residing at 13 percent, Carr will see more money once the Raiders move to Las Vegas. Florio notes that the uncertain 2019 season — after the Raiders’ Oakland Coliseum lease expires and a year before the earliest date by which Vegas stadium is set to be ready — will bring some variance. If the Raiders stay in Oakland, Carr will pay an additional $2.6MM in taxes for 2019 compared to how this would shake out if the franchise moved to another Nevada site while the domed stadium is being finished.
Carr conceded he wanted to leave some money for the Raiders to be able to keep Gabe Jackson and Amari Cooper (when he becomes extension-eligible in 2018) while helping the team plan for the seemingly inevitable record-setting Khalil Mack extension.
Fitzgerald: Gabe Jackson's Deal Surprising
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap (Twitter links) is a bit surprised by the size of Gabe Jackson‘s deal with the Raiders. Even with growing salaries for guards, Fitzgerald did not expect Jackson to fetch a five-year, $56MM extension with $26MM in guarantees. It could be a sign of things to come in Oakland and Fitzgerald believes that linebacker Khalil Mack will wind up as the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL by a healthy margin when that deal gets done. As we learned Thursday, Mack will probably have to wait until next year to get his extension.
Do Raiders Want To Extend Khalil Mack?
- There were reports earlier this week that the Raiders don’t have the cap room to extend defensive end Khalil Mack until next offseason. However, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com questions those claims. The writer cites the NFLPA’s website, which lists the organization’s current cap room at $32.8MM. Even if that number reflected the team’s financial situation before the Derek Carr and Gabe Jackson extensions, Florio is still convinced that the team could have easily fit all three extensions. In the event that it wasn’t financially feasible, the writer notes that the Raiders could simply restructure the contracts for Kelechi Osemele and Bruce Irvin, which would have presumably opened enough space. As a result, Florio doesn’t believe it’s an issue of whether the Raiders can sign Mack right now; rather, Florio believes the issue revolves around whether the organization wants to extend Mack at all.
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Did Carr Take Lesser Deal So Raiders Could Sign Jackson?
During the press conference to announce his new contract, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr had said that he wanted to leave some money for the organization to re-sign his teammates.
“The main thing that I could just remember was all along the way, I was like, ‘How do we keep my teammates?’” Carr said (via Raiders.com). “That’s, I don’t know if it’s weird how it sounds, but that was just what I kept telling him. I was like, ‘OK. that’s cool. Yeah, that’s awesome, wow, cool. Is this good for Gabe [Jackson]? Is this good for Khalil [Mack]? Is this good for Amari [Cooper]?’ [Reggie] can tell you himself, these are things that I said to him numerous amounts of times. I didn’t want to hurt our team; that’s the last thing I would ever want to do. So, hopefully we didn’t That’s the last thing that I intended to do and that’s kind of why I was so involved.”
Well, Carr’s brother, former NFL quarterback David Carr, said the Raiders star left money on the table so the team could specifically re-sign offensive guard Gabe Jackson (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). While Carr still became the first player in NFL history to make more than $25MM a season, his contract apparently left enough room for the organization to re-sign Jackson to a five-year, $56MM extension.
No Deal For Khalil Mack This Year
It appeared likely that the Raiders would extend each of Derek Carr, Gabe Jackson and Khalil Mack this summer, but that won’t be the case. After handing new deals to Carr and Jackson, the Raiders won’t have the cap room to lock up Mack until next offseason, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
The good news for the Raiders is that they won’t be at risk of losing Mack next winter, as he’s controllable through 2018 via his $13.846MM fifth-year option. Mack will surely look to outdo that number on an annual basis on a long-term deal, given that he has emerged as arguably the NFL’s premier defender since entering the league as a first-round pick in 2014. The former University at Buffalo star has been an iron man for the Raiders, having appeared in 48 straight games (all starts), and totaled 30 sacks and eight forced fumbles.
Mack is now coming off his second straight double-digit-sack season (11), in which he also piled up 73 tackles, a career-high five forced fumbles and ranked as Pro Football Focus’ best edge defender. More impressively, perhaps, Mack earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and his second straight first-team All-Pro nod.
Considering what Mack has accomplished, it’s fair to suggest he should be in line for a Von Miller-esque deal when the time comes for him to ink a long-term pact. The Broncos’ Miller, who fell three spots behind Mack in PFF’s rankings last season, signed a six-year, $114.5MM extension that features a whopping $70MM in guarantees last summer. The cap is consistently on the rise, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see Mack’s deal outpace Miller’s. For now, he’s on track to play 2017 for just $690K, likely making him the league’s biggest bargain.
Raiders, Gabe Jackson Agree To Extension
The Raiders and right guard Gabe Jackson have agreed to a five-year, $56MM extension, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The deal includes $26MM in guarantees, tweets ESPN’s Josina Anderson, and will keep Jackson with the Raiders through 2022.
Oakland had been prioritizing a Jackson extension since early in the offseason, so it’s no surprise that the two sides have agreed to a contract. Jackson’s now the second core member of the Raiders to accept a long-term deal this month, following quarterback Derek Carr, who landed a five-year, $125MM accord last week.
With the 25-year-old Jackson and Kelechi Osemele under wraps, the Raiders now have two of the NFL’s highest-paid guards. Osemele actually edges out Jackson in total value, having inked a five-year, $58.5MM contract as a free agent in 2016, but his deal includes less in guarantees ($25.4MM). Among guards, Jackson only ranks behind the Bengals’ Kevin Zeitler (five years, $60MM) and Osemele in value, and he’s second to Zeitler’s $31.5MM in guarantees.
Since entering the league as a third-round pick in 2014, Jackson has started in 44 of 45 regular-season appearances. The former Mississippi State standout has back-to-back 16-game seasons under his belt, and he’s coming off a year in which he ranked as Pro Football Focus’ 22nd-best guard (72 qualifiers). Led by their two guards, left tackle Donald Penn and center Rodney Hudson, the Raiders had the fourth-best offensive line in the league last year, according to PFF. All four of those players, not to mention primary right tackle Austin Howard, are returning this season, meaning the Raiders should once again have an elite quintet of blockers to make life easier for Carr and their skill players.
Raiders, Gabe Jackson Begin Talks
Contracts talks between the Raiders and guard Gabe Jackson are underway, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter links) hears. However, her source cautions that it is “very, very early” in the process. Ultimately, Anderson is told that the deal is almost certain to get done (Twitter link).
It has been expected for months now that the Raiders and Jackson would commence contract negotiations this summer. Naturally, a new deal for Derek Carr was No. 1 on the team’s to-do list, but Jackson is next up now that the quarterback has been inked to a five-year, $125MM deal. Extensions for Jackson and linebacker Khalil Mack now stand as the team’s biggest priorities. The Raiders should have the flexibility to get those deals done plus a fresh contract for wide receiver Amari Cooper thanks to the team-friendly structure of Carr’s pact.
The Raiders are eager to lock up Jackson for the foreseeable future, but an extension won’t come cheap. Anderson hears that Jackson’s camp is looking to top Joel Bitonio‘s $10MM annual average salary and may look to approach the AAV of Kelechi Osemele ($11.7MM) and Kevin Zeitler ($12MM).
Jackson, 26 in July, has been a starter since entering the league as a third-round pick in 2014. Last season, Jackson graded as the league’s No. 20 offensive guard among 72 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.
Raiders Not Showing Interest In Zach Orr
- Free agent linebacker Zach Orr, who retired in January thanks to a congenital spinal condition, announced Wednesday that he’s planning a comeback. Now, nearly half of the NFL’s 32 teams have interest in Orr, though the Raiders aren’t among those clubs at the moment, reports Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). The 25-year-old’s agent, Rob Sheets, told Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun on Wednesday that Orr is “100 percent confident he will play this season. This is a one-in-a-billion situation. I couldn’t even make this up.” But Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun is less than enthusiastic about Orr’s potential return, opining that the defender should stay retired instead of coming back and risking paralysis. Regardless of whether Orr plays in 2017, Schmuck doesn’t anticipate him rejoining the Ravens, as there’s doubt that their doctors would deem him healthy enough to play.