Former Raiders OT Donald Penn: ‘I have years left in me as a starter in the NFL’

This past weekend, the Raiders made the seemingly inevitable move to release Donald Penn. The long time iron man left tackle had seen injuries end his past three seasons short and the team had moved on, drafting Kolton Miller in the first round of the 2018 draft and signing free agent tackle Trent Brown to a record deal this offseason.

The beginning of the end for Penn in Oakland was the foot injury he had at the end of the 2017 season that required surgery and had him out all offseason, returning midway through training camp only after reworking his contract and lining up at right tackle for the first time in his career. Playing a foreign position, he would once again suffer an injury and landed on injured reserve after week four.

Approaching 36 years old, it would seem Penn has played his last game in the NFL, But he insists he is planning on continuing his career for whichever team will have him.

In is farewell message on instagram, he said “I still feel I have years left in me as a starter in the NFL.”

He ended his message with “I’ve got a lot of football LEFT.” No doubt a hint that he is a LEFT tackle, not a right tackle.

If Penn is eager to continue his career as a left tackle, there could certainly be a team out there interested in giving him that chance. Injuries happen and even at 36 years of age, he could be a decent option as a spot starter. It’s possible we haven’t seen the last of Donald Penn.