Oakland Raiders left tackle Donald Penn made the Pro Bowl in each of the past two seasons, but entering the 2018 campaign his roster spot is reportedly in jeopardy unless he takes a pay cut.
Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Tuesday night that, “Donald Penn’s future with the Raiders may be contingent on a pay cut.” He added that the Raiders have “expressed interest in reworking the veteran offensive tackle’s contract, two people familiar with the situation said Tuesday.”
Since then, other Raiders beat writers have confirmed that Oakland has asked Penn to take a pay cut, but they have also noted he doesn’t have to take one and that it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
The big issue right now with Penn is that he has yet to practice with the team this summer as he continues recovering from a a Lisfranc fracture, which he suffered against the Dallas Cowboys in mid-December and had subsequent surgery on.
Penn has a $6 million base salary this year, half of which is fully guaranteed.
The Raiders recently drafted Kolton Miller out of UCLA, and he’s been working with the first-team offense on the left side. So, if worst comes to worst and Penn doesn’t take a pay cut, prompting Oakland to cut him, Derek Carr would be relying on a rookie to protect his blind side in 2018.