Oakland Raiders Keeping Richard Seymour Was Making Best of Bad Situation

After new Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie released Stanford Routt Thursday, one of the next "out of whack" contracts that the Raiders were speculated to be eying was the $15 million owed to defensive end of Richard Seymour in 2012.

However, Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated tweeted Sunday that for 2012 at least the 32-year-old defensive tackle, who had 29 tackles and six sacks last season, isn't going to be going anywhere, as his entire salary is now guaranteed.

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"Seymour's $15M salary for '12 became fully guaranteed a day or two ago; he would've been guaranteed 'only' $7.5M if released before then."

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Fifteen million dollars may seem indeed out of whack given Seymour's production a year ago and penchant for getting ejected at first glance. But even at 32, Seymour's still playing at a fairly high level, grading out as the 11th best defensive tackle in the NFL last year according to Pro Football Focus.

Also, the Raiders were going to be on the hook for half the money regardless, and while $7.5 million is still a fat chunk of cheese, it may have cost the Raiders nearly that much to replace Seymour. Besides, the talent pool in free agency at defensive tackle is thin this season.

Finally, the Raiders are reportedly considering transitioning to a 3-4 defensive front. Even though that transition may not happen overnight, Richard Seymour would be valuable during it, as the 11-year pro has extensive experience in and success as both a 4-3 defensive tackle and a 3-4 defensive end.

The two-year, $30 million deal that Seymour signed last season may indeed have been whacky, but there wasn't a whole lot the new regime in Oakland could do, other than pony up the cash and hope that being in a contract year will be enough to keep Richard Seymour in line and playing at his best.