Outside of Pro Football Post, it has Robert Spillane appreciation week after the Raiders’ underrated linebacker played another phenomenal game against the Ravens on Sunday.
Spillane, who turns 29 in December, will be a free agent after the season and he is going to be a player that head coach Antonio Pierce wants to keep. It will be interesting to see the market for Spillane in the offseason, but his next contract will undoubtedly exceed the two-year, $7 million contract he signed with the Raiders 18 months ago.
The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen called Spillane one of the best 10 linebackers in the league on Friday, but it was a statistic from co-host Vic Tafur that really showed the separation between the veteran linebacker and many of his peers at the position.
From Tafur in a column this week in The Athletic…
“Last season, [Spillane] had plenty of game balls as he joined the Ravens’ Roquan Smith (2022) and Hall of Fame linebackers Ray Lewis (2001) and Patrick Willis (2009) as the only players since 2000 to record at least 148 tackles, three sacks (he had 3 1/2) and three interceptions, according to TruMedia. That came despite playing every snap of a game with a broken hand, only to have surgery and suit back up 10 days later.”
For all the mistakes that Josh McDaniels made as head coach of the Raiders, the contracts he gave to Spillane and Jakobi Meyers were two of the best bargains in the industry.
GM Dave Ziegler had a hand in the deals with Spillane and Meyers, as well, but they also brought in Chandler Jones, and that was one of the worst personnel decisions they made in their time with the Raiders.
The Jones contract, for what it’s worth, came after the organization was warned about some of the details that ultimately led to his release after just one season with the team.
x: @raidersbeat