Oakland Raiders: Reggie McKenzie set good precedent with contract extensions

Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie sent several messages through contract extensions. What did his transactions tell the locker room?

NBC’s Sunday Night Football crew will highlight the Oakland Raiders progress through recent years ahead of their matchup with the Washington Redskins. We’ll do the honors while examining general manager Reggie McKenzie’s offseason extensions.

McKenzie hit the jackpot during the 2014 draft, signed undrafted gems and impact free agents over the past few seasons, but he’s also set a good precedent in rewarding his in-house talents. It’s one thing to find players to fit the roster, but executives need to maneuver the salary cap to maintain key contributors.

The offense ranked No. 7 in points scored and No. 6 in yards accumulated in the previous year. As a result, McKenzie rewarded players near the end of their deals during the offseason. Each extension sent a message to a team on a quick trajectory toward Lombardi Trophy contention.

We’ll delve into four significant in-house deals from this past offseason. Before analyzing the headliners below, long snapper Jon Condo, who’s playing in his 11th year with the team, deserves an honorable mention. Good consistency is key in this league.

Derek Carr: Officially Crowning the Franchise Quarterback

Quarterback Derek Carr earned MVP mentions in some discussions circles for pulling his squad out of late deficits week after week. He engineered seven game-winning drives, threw 28 touchdown passes and only turned the ball over six times through the air. Through three seasons, he earned the title as the franchise quarterback. You can probably interchange quarterback with player in that label because we all saw how the team performed without him.

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Carr’s fiery, competitive on-field demeanor complements a conscientious 26-year old off the field. McKenzie appropriately paid the fourth-year signal-caller the highest salary in the league, before Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford signed his $135 million contract, but the Raiders passer could’ve asked for more.

As shown in the video above, Carr wanted to ensure his teammates inked a deal commensurate to their play as well.

Now that the Raiders extended their starting quarterback to a five-year, $125 million extension, his leadership will guide the roster. Carr’s competitiveness and unselfish behavior stand out most among his qualities—two characteristics that any general manager would like to spread within the locker room.

McKenzie set the tone for his roster with his top in-house contract extension.

Gabe Jackson: Keep the Offensive Line Nasty

Like clockwork, McKenzie invested in protection for his franchise quarterback. He drafted offensive guard Gabe Jackson in the third round, one round after Carr in the 2014 draft. The Mississippi State product falls in the same mold as his quarterback in personal characteristics as a football player — fiery on the field, but also unselfish.

Dating back to his days at Mississippi State, Jackson played left guard. He started 29 games at the same position for the Raiders. Then, the front office signed Kelechi Osemele during the 2016 offseason.

The coaching staff asked the 2014 third-rounder to shift to the right. Did he gripe about it? Absolutely not — he told NBC Bay Area reporter Scott Bair it’s a fun move and about the team in the big picture, per the team’s official website:

"I wouldn’t say anything is [the] biggest challenge, it’s just different. Any time you have something new, it’s different growing pains to go through. It’s different, but at the same time it’s fun. I’m with it all day.Whatever is gonna help our offensive line out, I’m 100 percent with it."

Despite playing at a new position, Jackson didn’t allow a single sack during the previous campaign, per Pro Football Focus:

Jackson put the team before his natural comfort zone at a particular position and excelled to boot. McKenzie extended the fourth-year guard on a five-year deal worth $55 million with $27.5 million in guaranteed cash, which lists as the second-most among players at his position in assured money, per Spotrac.

McKenzie essentially thanked Jackson for protecting his franchise player and putting team’s interests before personal preferences.

Seth Roberts: Rewarded for Sacrifice

We didn’t see wide receiver Seth Roberts earning an extension during the offseason, especially nearly a week after offensive tackle Donald Penn ended his holdout in hopes to land a new deal. However, wide receivers coach Rob Moore revealed, via the Bay Area News Group, that Roberts played through the 2016 season with a double hernia:

"He’s still developing and I think for him, people don’t understand that he had to play with a double hernia. The problem he had last year, he got that fixed this off-season. I think he’ll have a lot more core strength and the balls won’t get ripped away from him as much as they did in the past. He’s just going to continue to grow because he’s a kid that works extremely hard as well."

In comparison to his 2015 production, Roberts became inefficient. He matched the touchdown total (five), but registered a 49.4 percent catch rate. Nonetheless, how many wideouts played through a double hernia without a complaint despite outside criticism on dropped passes?

It’s worth mentioning the team carries a 10-0 record when Roberts catches a pass in the end zone. He’s also tied for fourth among undrafted players in touchdown catches since the 2015 season:

McKenzie seems to favor players who fight through adversity to succeed. In 2013, he drafted cornerback D.J. Hayden, who suffered a life-threatening injury as a senior at Houston. The Raiders executive also rolled the dice on pass-rusher Aldon Smith, who’s still banned from the league.

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Perseverance, production and adversity through injury helped Roberts earn a well-deserved extension in August.

Though it happened in his final year in the league and he didn’t need a new deal, defensive back Charles Woodson played through most of the 2015 season with a dislocated shoulder. He didn’t miss a single game and grabbed five interceptions. Many still hold the utmost reverence for the future Hall of Famer’s remarkable effort during that year.

Inside the Raiders locker room, there’s deep respect and honor for toughness.

Donald Penn: Reggie McKenzie’s Word is His Bond

Many didn’t know how the Penn-McKenzie standoff would end with the 34-year old pushing for a new deal via holdout to start training camp. Fortunately, the contract dispute didn’t play out through the media. Penn ended his holdout before the third preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys and returned in good faith, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:

McKenzie sent a clear message to Penn about a contract negotiation, per Bair:

"“I want him in camp,” McKenzie said. “He has a deal. I want him in camp. We don’t talk contracts unless a guy’s here.”"

Obviously, Penn heard the executive’s words and trusted the validity behind the message. The 34-year old knew his worth. According to Pro Football Focus, he elevated his play in Oakland and only allowed one sack in 621 pass-block snaps during the 2016 campaign:

Throughout the holdout process and after Penn re-joined his teammates it always seemed like a matter of when not if the 11th-year veteran inks his new deal with the team. McKenzie kept his word and rewarded another key cog in the Carr Insurance plan before the team’s Week 2 matchup with the New York Jets.

Reggie McKenzie Speaks on Khalil Mack

After massive contracts for Carr and Jackson along with smaller deals for Roberts and Penn, many fans wonder what’s left for edge-rusher Khalil Mack’s megadeal?

In an interview with The Atheltic’s Vic Tafur, McKenzie acknowledged the limitations in paying his premier pass-rusher for the current season:

"We communicated to Khalil’s agent that there is only so much cash we can do this year. But he’ll definitely have stuff presented to him in the near future. We want to do a long-term deal with him. Khalil is not only a great player, but he is a great leader, a great person and a great Raider. In my book, he is a lifer."

McKenzie already exercised the fifth-year option on Mack’s deal, which keeps him under team control through the 2018 season. The Raiders have an entire offseason to work out specifics on a rewarding contract for their best defender.

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Based on McKenzie’s track record with Carr, another roster cornerstone, there’s no need to worry about Mack wearing silver and black for the long term. As Penn found out during the summer, you can trust the Raiders executive when he speaks out. McKenzie intends to make the reigning Defensive Player of the Year a Raider for life.