Raiders sign No. 1 pick Kolton Miller to 4-year contract

OAKLAND, Calif. — The latest and most significant contract tied to the 2018 draft class is now in the Raiders’ books. On Friday, the team signed first-round pick Kolton Miller to a four-year contract with a team option for a fifth season.

Three of the club’s nine picks from the April 26-28 draft remain unsigned. Those are both third-round picks, offensive tackle Brandon Parker and defensive end Arden Key, and the fourth-round choice, cornerback Nick Nelson. These should be finalized soon.

Little drama surrounds rookie contracts. In 2011, the collective bargaining agreement effectively reduced draft-pick contracts to all but a formality by streamlining the structure of such details.

All draft picks receive four-year deals. All first-round picks have the fifth-year option. And for Miller, an offensive tackle from UCLA chosen with the No. 15 overall pick, he was sure to receive a slotted contract valued at about $13.6 million, including an $8 million signing bonus.

So-called rookie “holdouts” from training camp were common before the CBA. Such incidents today are rare.

Miller won’t be one.

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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.