If you would like to know just how much a team cares about a given position, one way to tell is how much money they spend on it. We’ve known that Jon Gruden places a lot of importance on the offensive line since he returned to coaching in 2018.
Just how the amount of money the Raiders invested in the positions compared to the rest of the league was uncertain. Now we know. It’s more than any other team.
According to numbers compiled by Spotrac, the Raiders have far and away the most cap money sunk into their offensive line.
The near $57 million they are paying for their linemen this year is $8 million more than the next most. That means even if they were to move Gabe Jackson, saving them some $6 million against the cap, they would STILL be spending the most on the offensive line.
Most of that money goes to the tackles. Only the QB position has more cap money used on it on the team. It breaks down like this:
Total: $28.4 million
Trent Brown: $21,500,000
Kolton Miller: $3,673,993
David Sharpe: $2,133,000
Brandon Parker: $1,116,910
Average: $7,105,976
They spend $22.2 million on the guard position and $5.8 million at center. And that center cap number was a lot higher before Rodney Hudson restructured his contract. He counted $14.5 million against the cap and now it’s just $5.3 million.
Other positions they ranked among the highest-paid include quarterback (3rd) and tight end (4th).
