The Raiders and center Rodney Hudson have agreed to a long-term contract extension, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News (on Twitter). When completed, it’ll be a three-year, $33.75MM extension that will make him the NFL’s highest-paid center, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). The pact includes $24.4MM in guarantees, Pelissero adds, but the guarantee-at-signing amount is likely less than that.
“We consider him a big piece of this franchise,” head coach Jon Gruden said when asked about the possibility of a new deal earlier this summer. “We’re going to do everything we can to keep him here a long time.”
Prior to the add-on, Hudson was set to earn a base salary of $8.25MM in 2019 with a $10.017MM cap number. He was also outside of the ten highest-paid players at his position. Before the extension, Mitch Morse, Maurkice Pouncey, Ryan Jensen, Brandon Linder, Weston Richburg, Travis Frederick, Matt Paradis, Alex Mack, and Justin Britt were among those to rank ahead of Rodney, in terms of average annual value. Now, he’s surpassed all of them.
Last year, Hudson graded out as the fourth-best center in the NFL, trailing only Jason Kelce, Paradis, and Mack. The 30-year-old also earned Pro Bowl nods in 2016 and 2017.
LOVE this guy. One of the few centers that you will actually notice during games cuz he’s out there running full sprint past his RB just to get another block on someone.