Jordy Nelson appears to have a second Raiders season on tap. The longtime Packers wide receiver signed a two-year deal with the Raiders, but some speculation existed about the rebuilding team moving on after one season.
Jon Gruden confirmed Friday that Nelson will return next season. The Raiders also moved up a $3.6MM Nelson roster bonus to be paid today rather than in 2019, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
“If you watched Jordy play carefully the last four weeks when he’s been healthy, you see what he’s capable of doing, … I think you can even see better and better days ahead,” Gruden said, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter links). “So yeah, he’ll be back. … Normally when you hand out a bonus for next year’s season, there’s a pretty good chance those guys are coming back.”
That puts Tahir Whitehead, tight end Lee Smith and linebacker Kyle Wilber in line to be Raiders in their to-be-determined city next season. The Raiders paid Whitehead his $3.325MM bonus, with Smith collecting $1.1MM and Wilber $500K, Yates adds. These moves will spread out said bonuses’ cap hits across 2018 and ’19.
Nelson will be 34 when next season starts. He said earlier this week (via Bair, on Twitter) he wanted to play at least one more season. Jared Cook leads the Raiders in receiving, but Nelson has, to some degree, bounced back from a dismal 2017 with 661 receiving yards on one of the NFL’s worst offenses, bumping his yards-per-catch average from a career-low 9.1 (in the largely Aaron Rodgers-less ’17 Packers slate) to 12.2 with Derek Carr. While the latter figure is still below his prime work, Nelson is one of the NFL’s oldest wideouts.
Very smart move by Gruden and the Raiders. I still believe Nelson leaving Green Bay is the reason the Packers have had such problems this season. They are offense just did not look the same.
Lol I can assure you Jordy Nelson is not the reason the packers suck this year. Bear Down !
No stop, Nelson is at best a number 3 guy he’s a shell of his former self. Rodgers had 2 really good WRs this year and you think a 33/34 year old would’ve changed things? You’re deliusional
Who’s the “2 really good WRs”? Lmfao.
Davante Adams counts as 2 lol
I love people who dont know what they are talking insulting you for stating FACTS! You are right..losing Nelson is a reason that that offense has struggled. He was Rodgers go to guy, his security blanket in many ways! They made a mistake releasing him when they should’ve release Cobb. Cobb sucks, he had one good year maybe two and that’s it and he’s always hurt. I don’t think Nelson alone is the reason the Pack suck this year. There’s many reasons why but I do believe if they had him they’d be a lot better on offense. The front office didn’t put together a good team in GB, Rodgers had a shitty attitude because he was pissed they released Nelson the. He and McCarthy didn’t get along so the shitty attitude carried on, their O line isn’t very good, besides Addams he really doesn’t have good WR’s, Graham isn’t who he was before, GB once again goes after a washer up TE and overpays, their RB situation is confusing and their defense had gotten better but still needs a lot of work. Oh and they are using Clay Matthews out of place using him in protection instead of rushing the QB. That’s just some of the reasons GB isn’t very good this year. Then you got MN the Vikings who are better than the Packers and the Bears who are not only better than the Packers but are one of the best teams in football and both of those teams are in your division. All those things come into play. I laugh at people who try to say Rodgers has good WRs and this and that. He doesn’t and that’s clear. Keeping Nelson and getting rid of Cobb should’ve been a easy choice but they screwed the pooch on that one.
Should have released both of them to be honest….packers o line and defense as a whole sucks. The horrible drafts over the past decade have been a large part of why we suck. Jordy would not have made a huge difference if he was here. ARod has zero protection and the packers cant put any pressure on a QB.
Solid complimentary WR. Most teams could use a Nelson.
Packers are old in so many areas it’s hilarious that someone would say such a thing. They should trade Rodgers for a QB starved team and rebuild. He’s a guy that can get you a huge return & get a new AB in 2020.
Packers trade Rodgers the fan base would probably revolt. Gotta consider the business side of things. It’s like the LA Angels, they should trade Trout but they won’t. If they were moved their organization would become irrelevant and alienate the fans.
Chucky can find bonus money for 34 yr old WRs but he couldn’t find money to keep Cooper? This explains in part why the Raiders future looks rather gloomy.