The Raiders and Donald Penn are discussing an extension, Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Penn has said in the past that he wants to retire a Raider and a contract extension could ensure that.
“I don’t want to get into that, just focusing on things on the field,” said Penn, who stands 6’4″ and weighs 315 pounds. “But yeah, that would be great. I love it here. I grew up a Raiders fan and we’re getting closer to bringing it back to the old, winning ways.”
Penn is on the backend of a two-year, $9.6MM contract that the Raiders offered him after would-be free-agent signee Rodger Saffold failed his physical. Penn was motivated after being cut by the Bucs and has never looked back. Quarterback Derek Carr had the NFL’s third-lowest knockdown rate (8.0 percent) last season thanks in large part to Penn’s play.
Last season, Penn graded out as the No. 11 tackle in the NFL with an overall grade of 3.4, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus (subscription required). That was a big improvement from the previous season, where Penn placed No. 29 among tackles, per PFF.
I remember thinking it would be a downgrade for the Raiders to transition from Jared Veldheer to Donald Penn at LT, but Penn really proved me wrong last year. An extension would be well-deserved, and Oakland certainly has the cap space to make it happen.
Penn was solid last year, but I do still think he was a downgrade from Veldheer. I’m still surprised Oakland didn’t just knock out a deal with Veldheer last year, but if I remember correctly, he had some misgivings about staying with the team.
valdheer was good but not for the money he was asking for his last year in Oakland was not very good. Donald penn was a blessing in disguise. Penn has been a major upgrade to the o-line not just cause of his play on the field but for his leadership off the field.