The Las Vegas Raiders announced that they have signed long snapper Trent Sieg to a three-year contract extension.
Sieg originally went undrafted out of Colorado State and signed with the Baltimore Ravens until his release prior to the start of the 2018 season. He was then picked up as an early-season replacement by the Raiders in Week 2 after long snapper Andrew DePaola went down.
Although there was not much for Las Vegas to hang their hat on down the final stretch of the 2020 campaign, the strong performance form their special teams was certainly a silver lining. Sieg helped kicker Daniel Carlson score a franchise-record 144 points while also tying an NFL-high alongside Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo and Miami Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders.
Sieg also played an integral role in punter AJ Cole’s stellar debut year back in 2019 when he broke rookie franchise record for punting average, net average and punts downed inside the 20-yard line. His performance has helped serve as a stabilizing factor for this revamped group in recent years and this has now earned him a long-term stay in Las Vegas.
Perhaps most important is the durability Sieg has displayed after appearing in the last 47 consecutive games. He should be slated to provide plenty of bang for his buck over the next three years, which is something the team has not experienced much of lately.
Now that the Raiders have cemented most of their special teams, they can continue their focus on shoring up the notable deficiencies on both sides of the ball.
All signs point toward quarterback Derek Carr sticking around after receiving a major endorsement from general manager Mike Mayock. However, Mayock did not offer up the same sense of security for right tackle Trent Brown following a disappointing 2020 campaign.
There are also still a number of voids left to fill on defense if the Raiders hope to spark any potential resurgence in the 2021 NFL season.