Raiders offer big raise to undrafted Keelan Doss to help fill Antonio Brown void

Jack Baer
·Staff writer
Updated

Believe it or not, the Oakland Raiders still have some games to play even though Antonio Brown has left town for much, much greener pastures.

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One of the bigger bullet points on the team’s to-do list was filling out its wide receiver corps due to the gaping target hole left by Brown. The team is turning to a familiar face — and paying a pretty penny — to do so.

Raiders bring back ‘Hard Knocks’ star Keelan Doss

The Raiders have reportedly convinced undrafted rookie Keelan Doss to return to the team he spent training camp with rather than stay on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad. The price: a roster spot and fully guaranteed salary, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

Doss himself confirmed the news on Twitter.

Per Garafalo, Doss has now gone from a non-guaranteed $255,000 salary to a $795,000 income that’s on par with a fourth-round draft slot. And it’s all thanks to the smoldering train wreck that is the team’s Antonio Brown saga.

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Doss was widely considered a draft-worthy talent after a career at UC-Davis in which he totaled more than 4,000 receiving yards, but fell out of the draft. He signed with the hometown Raiders, and became one of the featured players on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2019, file photo, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Keelan Doss (89) runs with the ball during an an NFL preseason football game against the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz. After winning just four games last season and holding four picks in the top two rounds of the NFL draft, the Raiders figured to have plenty of opportunities for rookies to contribute. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
The Raiders have won a small bidding war for undrafted rookie Keelan Doss. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

That fame didn’t stop the Raiders from cutting Doss at the end of preseason. The 23-year-old Doss wound up signing with the Jaguars’ practice squad, and reportedly turned down a 53-man roster spot with the Raiders when Brown was released after the Jaguars offered him a raise.

The Raiders then upped their offer, and here we are, with another way the team has had to scramble in the wake of Brown’s saga.

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