Oakland Raiders: Donald Penn ready to return to camp

Donald Penn is reportedly expected to end his holdout and return to practice with the Oakland Raiders as early as Tuesday.

Donald Penn, the Oakland Raiders Pro Bowl left tackle is reportedly ready to end his contract holdout and return to training camp with the rest of the team, according to team sources. This should be a huge relief for the Raiders and general manager Reggie McKenzie. Penn is one the best in his position right now and without him, the Raiders are notably shallow at the left tackle position.

If Penn continued his holdout the Raiders would have had to start the inconsistent Marshall Newhouse or one of the two rookie tackles they have on the roster, Jylan Ware and Chauncey Briggs. Ware was a seventh-round pick and Briggs went undrafted.

McKenzie will likely not rush to get a deal done for Penn before the start of the season. Penn’s return might be enough of an act of good faith that a deal gets done during the season as opposed to next offseason. Penn might have felt forced to end his holdout early despite wanting a new deal as McKenzie had publicly said he was unwilling to negotiate with players during a holdout (per the San Jose Mercury News):

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"“Well, he’s not in camp. My thing is to not talk about guys when they’re not in camp. Donald’s my guy. Ever since he stepped in, after we lost (Jared Veldheer), I told him he’s my guy. That’s not going to change.”"

The Raiders need to make keeping Penn a priority. Protecting quarterback Derek Carr is vitally important after he missed the final two games of last season with a broken fibula and Penn gave up a single sack in 16 starts last seasons. Penn is also one of the cornerstones of the Raiders impressive run blocking unit, which will be blocking for five-time Pro Bowler Marshawn Lynch this season.

There is no question that Penn deserves a new contract, as he outperformed a contract that ranks 19th in the league for left tackles according to Over The Cap. McKenzie’s hard stance on the holdout seems to have worked though. Penn will be back as soon as Tuesday and the veteran tackle will not need too many practice reps to get ready to play.

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Fans should expect to see him play at least a limited series in Oakland’s third preseason game on Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys.