One of the bigger mistakes the Raiders made during the 2020 offseason was signing defensive end Carl Nassib to a large contract. The Raiders signed him to a three-year deal worth $25.5 with $16.7 million guaranteed. They did so despite Nassib never having more than 6.5 sacks in a season.
Not surprisingly, Nassib struggled in his first season with the Raiders. He recorded just 2.5 sacks and five tackles for a loss. In fact, his play (and practice performance) was so bad at times that the Raiders made him a healthy scratch for two games.
But despite the rough first season in Las Vegas, the Raiders won’t be releasing Nassib. Instead, they are restructuring his contract, potentially saving close to $5 million in cap space. The news was first reported by Vic Tafur of The Athletic via Twitter:
The #Raiders' choices were:
A) Pay DE Carl Nassib his $5.75 million guaranteed bonus today and release him, saving $3.5 million in salary.
B) Keep him. Just pay him.
C) Restructure and just push all of that money back.
They're going with Option C.— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) March 19, 2021
This move will now give Nassib a cap number of $12.3 million in 2022 and it makes it even harder to release him next offseason if needed. The Raiders are hopeful that Gus Bradley (and Rod Marinelli) can turn his career around. But he turns 28 next month and we know what type of player he is.
Look for Nassib to be a reserve/role player in 2021, playing behind the likes of Yannick Ngakoue, Maxx Crosby and Clelin Ferrell.
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