Raiders WR Seth Roberts signs 3-year, $12M extension
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Raiders easily could’ve run out the clock on Seth Roberts’ contract.
They chose to extend it instead.
Wide receiver Seth Roberts signed a three-year deal Wednesday that will keep him under team control through the 2019 season. The $12 million pact features $6.45 million guaranteed, a source said. Roberts is entering his third NFL season and was scheduled to become a restricted free agent in March.
The Raiders could’ve allowed him to play this season under a $615,000 salary. Then, they could have placed a one-year tender on him in 2018, a cost falling roughly in the neighborhood of $2.8 million if a second-round tender.
With this deal, Roberts received more money and long-term security for the next two seasons than he would have otherwise. The extension does delay his eligibility to test the unrestricted free agent market. He was previously scheduled to do so in 2019. Now, that will wait until 2020.
Roberts, 26, quietly played all of last season with a double hernia; he did not publicly disclose the injury until August, coach Jack Del Rio said. Still, he caught 38 passes for 397 yards and five touchdowns. In 2015, he caught 32 passes for 480 yards and five scores as an undrafted rookie from West Alabama.
The Raiders are slated to rely upon him as their No. 3 wide receiver in 2017 with Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree on the outside. He missed the past two exhibitions to illness before returning to practice on Tuesday.
Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.