The new Las Vegas Raiders regime has encountered a hiccup with one of the franchise’s longest-tenured standouts.
Left tackle Kolton Miller, a 2018 NFL Draft first-round pick entering the final season of his current contract, has been absent from the team's voluntary offseason program.
Miller, 29, is due a $12.2 million base salary in his upcoming age-30 season with no guaranteed money. It’s been the impetus for him missing Raiders head coach Pete Carroll’s first offseason program in the desert, which began April 8.
Speaking at the Raiders' pre-draft news conference on Friday, general manager John Spytek, also in his first season with the club, used the situation to outline his approach discussing contracts -- he's not going to.
“I’m just gonna give you our answer and it’s gonna be this going forward. We’re not gonna discuss contracts publicly and this is certainly a voluntary part of the offseason program," he said. "Guys are free to come and go as they please.”
Miller’s absence from the strictly voluntary portion of the offseason program is unlikely to be reason for too much alarm, but it’s most certainly an item that will need to be placed upon the agenda of Spytek.
Since he was taken with the 15th overall pick in 2018, Miller has been a constant in the Raiders' starting lineup despite consistent change elsewhere. Carroll is set to be Miller’s fourth full-time head coach.
Across his seven seasons, Miller has played 109 games with 107 starts. His only significant injury trouble came in the 2023 campaign, when he was limited to a career-low 13 games -- which included his only two career non-starts -- due to a shoulder ailment.
Miller’s 80.6 overall PFF grade in 2024 was 13th among tackles and his fourth season in a row with an 80-plus overall rating.
Though another new era has dawned on the Silver and Black, it’s likely the Raiders will look to keep Miller happy with a fresh contract as successful clubs rarely let effective left tackles leave.