Kolton Miller is staying with the Raiders and will be well compensated.
The Raiders’ left tackle more than survived the offensive line purge. He thrived, agreeing to a three-year contract extension, the Bay Area News Group confirmed.
The deal, as first reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, guarantees Miller $42.6 million and averages $18 million per season.
Labeled a reach as the 15th overall selection out of UCLA in 2018, Miller stepped in immediately as the starter and after a rough rookie season has improved each season.
Miller has played in 46 games, all starts, and missed the first two games of his career last season with an ankle injury.
The Raiders’ offensive line will be rebuilt this season with the exits of center Rodney Hudson (Cardinals), Gabe Jackson (Seahawks) and Trent Brown at the cost of a third-round draft pick and two fifths, with a seventh going to New England in the Brown deal.
While the Raiders balked at paying the $9.6 million due Jackson and the $9.5 in salary Hudson was owed, Miller will cash in and be the fifth highest-paid offensive tackle in the NFL in terms of average salary.
According to overtheap.com, the 49ers' Trent Williams is No. 1 ($23.1 million), followed by David Bakhtiari of Green Bay ($23 million, Laremy Tunsil of Houston ($22 million) and Ronnie Stanley of Baltimore ($19.75 million). Miller is ahead of Denver’s Garrett Bolles ($17 million).
Until complete terms are available, it's not known how Miller’s deal affects the Raiders' salary cap this season, although deals are usually structured to minimize the damage the first season. The total value of Miller’s deal, as reported by The Athletic by the agency Octagon, is $68.7 million, and runs through 2025. Miller broke news of the total value himself on Twitter.
Miller becomes the first Raiders player to get a second contract since the implementation of a fifth-year option on first-round picks in the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. No Raiders player taken in the first round since Darren McFadden (drafted in 2008) earned a second contract.
The Raiders declined a fifth year on cornerback D.J. Hayden (drafted in No. 12 2013), traded Khalil Mack (No. 5 in 2014) and Amari Cooper (No. 4 in 2015) and declined fifth-year options on Karl Joseph (No. 14 in 2016) and Gareon Conley (No. 23 in 2017), with Conley dealt to Houston during his fourth season.
As it stands, the Raiders' offensive line will have Miller at left tackle, veteran Richie Incognito at left guard, Andre James or Nick Martin at center, Denzelle Good at right guard and Brandon Parker at right tackle. It’s conceivable the Raiders will find competition at the right guard spot in the first or second round of the NFL draft.
The Raiders were fortunate to end up with Miller, as they lost a coin flip with the 49ers for the ninth overall pick in the first round of the draft. The 49ers selected Mike McGlinchy out of Notre Dame, who was reportedly targeted by the Raiders.
The Raiders traded back from No. 10 to No. 15 with Arizona and took Miller at No. 15 at the behest of offensive line coach Tom Cable, a selection that was viewed by most in post-draft analysis as over-valuing a player who had started just one full season as a junior and parts of his freshman and sophomore seasons before declaring for the draft.
