Since a bumpy end to the 2024 season, it’s been a relatively quiet offseason for the Raiders and that’s a positive development considering all the turnover in the building over the last six months.
The only looming storyline over the Raiders that might make sense to address sooner than later is the contract situation around Kolton Miller. There were rumors that Miller might hold out for a new deal, but he has participated in offseason activities to this point and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of progress between the sides on a new deal.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter talked about Miller’s situation on Tuesday and he issued a warning of sorts to the Raiders around how they handle his long-term future with the team.
“They are discussing. I don’t think they are anywhere near a deal;” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “I know that Kolton would like to remain a Raider, and I believe the Raiders would like to keep him. It’s just a matter now of finding out how strong the other’s commitment is.”
“If the Raiders were to lose him, it would be a significant loss and I’m going to say this… and everyone know the respect I have for John Spytek,” Hondo continued. “If you don’t want to Kolton, which would be unfathomable to me, then you let him go into the season without a deal, because at the end of the year you are going to have to either franchise tag him… but you’re going to have to spend a lot more money than what you could get him for now.”
“It would be ridiculously unwise to let him go into the season without a deal when he’s got value and you can trade him. I’m not advocating [trading] Kolton Miller. I would not trade Kolton. I would have already had the deal done. I’m going to be nice and not say everything that I know, but let’s just say I think if you’re the Raiders and he’s being unrealistic, and I don’t think he is, then I think you trade him.”
For his part, Miller hasn’t been silent about where he wants to close out his NFL career. He wants to stay in Las Vegas.
“I want to be a Raider for life,” Miller told members of the media last week. “I love it here. I don’t want to go anywhere else. It goes by quicker and quicker each year. I want to be here for my whole career, if I can.”
Going back to April, there were some signs at the time that the new decision makers in Las Vegas weren’t necessarily sold on Miller.
This was from the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore two months ago…
“This is the second straight year that he’s gone into a season with a non-guaranteed salary. I’ve been told that he probably would have done this last year, as well, but he was rehabbing this time last year, so it was kind of a moot point,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate. “He wasn’t even able to get onto the field [during] OTAs or the workouts otherwise. That aside, you know, is it a concern? I think there is a little bit of a concern that there’s the potential of his days here being on an expiration date, let’s put it that way.”
According to Bonsignore, the new leadership in Las Vegas had not reached out to Miller’s camp about a contract extension at the time and he perceived that to be a possible indication of how they view his long-term future with the team.
“It was made very clear to me yesterday that no contract talks have begun. That doesn’t mean contract talks can’t begin or won’t begin, but they haven’t begun. And that’s a little bit conspicuous and maybe telling. It could be telling. People that I talked to in the NFL say, ‘Look, the Raiders have a lot of cap space and the fact that contract acts talks haven’t started yet… what does that tell you about what they may be thinking about Kolton Miller moving forward?’” Bonsignore continued.
“I’ll say this. Kolton Miller was a priority for the previous regime. He was somebody that, if you’re talking about a to-do list for this off season, Kolton Miller would have been somebody that they wanted to get extended. But those decision makers aren’t even in the building anymore. So, it’s no longer what the organization six months ago thought. It’s what the organization now thinks.”
x: @raidersbeat
Give him a 3-5 year deal. Hes earned it, plays hurt for the team all the time
Wtf? Now millineal insiders are giving out WARNINGS really? Little pinheads taking over the website. Wow!!!!
Miller is a middling talent, and should be paid accordingly. He is needed, but hopefully they don’t overpay. A 2 year deal, with a team 3rd year option should do.