The departure of tight end Zach Miller from the Oakland Raiders to the Seattle Seahawks was a harsh blow to the organization. Kevin Boss does fill in the gap a bit, but the loss of the Pro Bowler is not something easily replaced.
Miller went on Bay Area radio to describe his situation with the Raiders. He went on The Wheelhouse with John Lund and co-host Mychael Urban today on 95.7 The GAME and gave reasons that Silver and Black fans are probably familiar with: Namely, the organization didn't value him enough before free agency, and that they didn't make him a top priority.
You can listen to the audio here. The crucial quote is after the jump.
Why did you go to Seattle and leave the Raiders?
The biggest thing was... all throughout my last year as a Raider I thought I was gonna get my contract extended and it never happened and then going into the off season before the lockout, I thought I was going to get an extension or get a new contract... and then once that free agency period started before you could officially sign deals, I thought a deal would happen too and it just never did so as a free agent I just looked around at other teams, other teams called my agent, and Seattle really pushed for me hard... they brought me up here for a visit. I got a chance to talk to Coach [Tom] Cable again and Coach [Pete] Carroll and really like it up here, felt like I would be a good fit, and liked the direction the team was heading... That's what sealed the deal.
Was it more the Raiders or Seahawks?
All through the offseason I just assumed that once the lockout was over that I would have a deal done that day but it just didn't happen. They kept telling me to be patient... Then they signed guys before me. It was tough, thinking that I'd be the priority and I wasn't...
Now to be fair, the contract the Seahawks gave Miller was well more than anything that the Raiders would have been able to hand out, so it's likely Miller would have walked regardless of the offer the Raiders handed out. But it's quite possible Miller would have come back if the Raiders had agreed to a contract extension before free agency. It might work out, it might not. The Raiders will now have to hope Boss can be an adequate fill-in and not cause too significant a drop off.
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