There have been rumblings about a potential contract extension coming for Derek Carr, but could a new deal be coming sooner for Kolton Miller?
It was somewhat overlooked because of all the free agent drama swirling around the Raiders, but the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Vinny Bonsignore reported this month that the Raiders are prioritizing a new deal for Miller.
Miller is entering the fourth year of his rookie deal and will count just under $4.3 million against the salary cap in 2021. Beyond that, the Raiders have the fifth-year option at their disposal to keep Miller in 2022 – with a 2022 cap number around $11 million in that scenario.
The highest-paid tackles in the NFL are currently averaging around $23 million per year, but it seems unlikely that Miller would get a deal close to those figures. Nevertheless, Miller’s representatives surely weren’t disappointed to see the six-year, 138 million deal that Trent Williams just signed with the 49ers.
Williams and Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari are the two highest paid left tackles in the NFL and they rank no. 1 and no. 2 at the position, according to Pro Football Focus analytics. Miller was the 37th-ranked tackle in the NFL by Pro Football Focus analytics in 2020 with grades significantly higher in pass protection (and lower run blocking grades).
A new deal presumably wouldn’t help the Raiders in terms of salary cap this year, but it might free up a little money in 2022. The real advantage to extending Miller this offseason, though, would be locking him in before he can command a more lucrative deal a year from now (similar to what we saw with Darren Waller). Miller is only 25 years old and has unquestionably improved in each of his three seasons as a pro.
For what it’s worth, Bonsignore was out in front of Marcus Mariota’s restructured deal, so we’ll see if things play out similarly with Miller.
twitter: @raidersbeat
He’s worth it, but he’s already locked in for two more years. I might wait until the end of this season to see how things shake out.