After acquiring receivers Antonio Brown and Tyrell Williams, the Oakland Raiders released Jordy Nelson this past Thursday.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Kansas City Chiefs have expressed interest in acquiring Nelson, who caught 63 passes for 739 yards and three touchdowns for Oakland last season. During Nelson’s 10 seasons in the NFL, he’s had over 1,000 receiving yards four times.
He played his first nine seasons with the Green Bay Packers, where he earned accolades such as a Pro Bowl selection, second-team All-Pro selection and 2016 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
At 33 years old, Nelson naturally isn’t quite the athlete and deep threat that he once was. His production has dropped off significantly since 2016, but in his defense he hasn’t been paired with the best quarterbacks lately.
In his last season with Green Bay, Nelson was catching passes from Brett Hundley, and last season Derek Carr had the fourth-lowest yards per completion in the league. Considering the sad state of the Raiders’ offense in 2018, his production doesn’t look all that bad.
Nelson was particularly productive against the Chiefs last season, catching 19 passes for 175 yards in two games against them. After losing Chris Conley to free agency, K.C. could use a veteran receiver for depth and to fill in as a starter if Tyreek Hill or Sammy Watkins were to miss time.
Nelson is scheduled to visit with the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday. If he leaves Seattle without a deal it will be interesting to see where he visits next. Other teams interested in his services are the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots. The Raiders may also be interested in bringing him back on a new deal.
