The Raiders have reached an agreement with tight end Kevin Boss on a 4-year, $16 million contract. He will replace Pro Bowl tight end Zach Miller whom the Raiders lost recently when he signed with the Seahawks.
Boss was an absolute necessity as the Raiders were not prepared to lose Miller. They had just one tight end, Brandon Myers, who had ever caught a pass in the NFL. Myers has never been known as a pass catching tight end. He has been the blocking tight end while Miller was out making all the catches.
Miller signed on in Seattle for $6 million a season so Boss does come much cheaper.
The Super Bowl winning tight end was very enthusiastic about joining the Raiders as I reported yesterday and was giving the team every opportunity to sign him. Despite the Giants making a last minute push to retain his services, Boss gave the Raiders a couple of days to restructure some contracts and get under the salary cap to allow room for him.
He played four seasons in New York and was the starting tight end when the team won the Super Bowl versus the New England Patriots. He had nearly 1500 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns over his last three seasons. Raiders defensive line coach Mike Waufle was also part of that team and the two are familiar with each other.
Boss is an immediate upgrade to a tight end corps that consisted of Myers, practice squad player Kevin Brock, and rookies Richard Gordon and David Ausberry. Gordon and Ausberry have surprised in camp thus far but they don’t have the experience the team needs to feel comfortable leaving the starting job in either of their hands.
Boss should be arriving at training camp today though he may not practice until Saturday. He will give a press conference today as most newly signed players do. I will be there to report on how he looks as well as get comments from him.
Keep up with all my tweets at camp by following on Twitter @LeviDamien. Or befriend me on Facebook.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
