The Oakland Raiders front office and coaching staff have some difficult decisions ahead of them as they put together their 53-man roster for the 2019-20 season.
One player who doesn’t need to worry about if he is making the roster or not though is center Rodney Hudson, who is going into his fifth season with the Raiders.
Hudson was originally drafted in the second round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011 out of Florida State but wound up in Oakland after four solid seasons.
It does not appear that Hudson is going to be leaving the Raiders organization anytime soon as according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, he has agreed to a contract extension that makes him the highest-paid center in the league:
Source: The #Raiders are signing Rodney Hudson to a three-year, $33.75 million contract extension that will make him the NFL’s highest-paid center. He gets $24.4 million in guarantees. Jackpot for the 30-year-old before team’s move to Vegas. 🎰💰
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 30, 2019
Pelissero gave some more details on the contract, which is an interesting one:
Unique deal for Rodney Hudson: His existing $8.25M salary for 2019 is now fully guaranteed. Another $16.5M becomes fully guaranteed the 3rd day of 2020 waiver period. Security for injury now. OAK must make decision by mid-February on the rest … and big $$ due in low-tax Nevada. https://t.co/DEonFC6ytv
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 30, 2019
Keeping Hudson long-term was a priority for the Raiders after trading Kelechi Osemele to the New York Jets this past offseason and losing Gabe Jackson to injury. Hudson has not only become a leader for the Raiders offensive line, but he is also one of the captains of the team.
Hudson has not missed a single game the last three seasons and has only missed three games in his last six NFL seasons, so this extension was definitely well-earned. He is a two-time Pro Bowler, earning the honors in both 2016 and 2017 with the Raiders.
