The Oakland Raiders have announced that they have re-signed free safety Michael Huff. The Raiders safety, who is headed into his seventh year with the team, has agreed to terms following rampant speculation that he was Dallas bound.
Huff led the team in tackles last year and was an integral part of their best season since the 2002 Super Bowl year. Huff was selected as the seventh overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft after an impressive career at Texas that included a National Championship win over USC. Huff finished the 2010 season with 94 tackles, four sacks, three forced fumbles, and three interceptions.
Perhaps his most memorable play in 2010 was when he sacked San Diego Chargers quarterback, Phillip Rivers, and forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Tyvon Branch and returned for a game sealing touchdown.
The Raiders had attempted to re-sign Huff during the brief February signing period, but were unable to reach an agreement. The departure of Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha helped the Raiders to make this move possible. The re-signing of Huff indicates that the Raiders will be returning three of four starters from their 2010 secondary with Tyvon Branch, Stanford Routt, and Huff.
Following his benching in 2008 in favor of Hiram Eugene, Huff’s on field play has become increasingly more adequate. He was named a 2010 All-Pro free safety following a career high in almost every category in the 2010 season.
After practice Hue Jackson said of Huff, “He’s locked in at safety but he’s one of the guys that can play several things, but he’s our safety, he’s returning at the position he played and I’m expecting a big season from him.”
Huff claims that he was never even on the market. “We had a deal in place back then so I knew I would be back… I would have signed a long time ago, so I knew I’d pretty much be back… I could have [signed], but like this whole time I didn’t take any visits, didn’t take any phone calls or nothing.”
He claims the phone rang a lot better he wasn’t answering. Then he was asked if Cowboys new defensive coordinator and former Raiders defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan, was among those phone calls. To which his response was, “No comment.” And that is all the comment we need.
Contract details have not been released.
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