Jordy Nelson finds second home and opportunity with Raiders

NAPA, Calif. — The move meant opening up more than $10 million in cap space, and he was, after all, a 33-year-old wide receiver who missed the entire 2015 NFL season with a serious knee injury and whose production had decreased.

So while Derek Carr might not understand why the Packers cut Jordy Nelson loose in March, the argument for such a move was hardly flawed.

Which makes this latest opportunity all the more compelling.

Jon Gruden loves veteran players and the Raiders, as much as any team, offer them second chances at continuing careers and proving others wrong, both of which Nelson can pursue under the guidance of Gruden while catching passes from Carr.

Nelson was drafted by Green Bay out of Kansas State in the second round in 2008, caught nine passes for 140 yards in their Super Bowl XLV win against the Steelers and was the league’s 2016 Comeback Player of the Year. Two days after he was sent packing by the only NFL team he had known, Nelson had a new home.

He signed a two-year contract with the Raiders for $15 million, all but $2 million of which is guaranteed. That doesn’t mean he will be with the team when it moves to Las Vegas in 2020, but it affords the team as professional and knowledgeable a player as you will find.

One in, one out

Nelson was in just around the time Michael Crabtree was out for the Raiders.

“It hasn’t felt much different since Day One or Two of being with the organization,” Nelson said. “The transition has been easier than I expected with the unknown, but once we got into football, it has been smooth. It’s football, just with different guys.

“I’m new, but the entire coaching staff and offense is new. But the routes are the routes. For the most part, I’ve done a good job deleting the stuff I brought from Green Bay so I’m not comparing systems. I’m not trying to come in and take over. Just continue to grow on (a connection with Carr). Obviously, it will take time and never stop. Even after being in Green Bay for 10 years, we were working to continue fine-tuning things.”

It wasn’t near the same historic lore as Montana-to-Rice or Aikman-to-Irvin or Manning-to-Harrison — think more Stabler-to-Branch or Jurgensen-to-Taylor— but the quarterback-wideout combination of Aaron Rodgers to Nelson over a decade produced some staggering numbers.

Rodgers targeted Nelson 705 times, leading to 470 completions for 6,919 yards, 324 first downs and 65 touchdowns.

Injuries to both players in recent years slowed the trend, and their chemistry was perhaps highlighted most when Rodgers was out last season and it was instead unproven Brett Hundley at quarterback.

Nelson’s numbers plummeted.

Speed a question

His goal now is to find a similar rhythm with Carr as he had with Rodgers, while being the sort of mentor in the film room and on the field that the Raiders believe could help fourth-year pro Amari Cooper elevate himself onto the level of the NFL’s best receivers.

Cooper is approaching the doorstep, and Nelson could play as big a role as anyone getting him there.

“(Nelson) is a class act,” Gruden said. “He doesn’t have a lot of bravado and he’s not real flamboyant, but he’s polished, he’s a pro, he’s helpful to all our (receivers). His presence, his experience, is a great resource.

“He’s wired in. You can see why he was a security blanket for Rodgers all those years. He can still run. He’s proven to us he can still run. We can line him up anywhere we want and he can run any route we draw up.”

That’s the big question, really: How much speed remains in those legs? How much can Nelson still separate after the catch? How much of last season — when he had just 53 catches for 482 yards and six TDs — was about a lack of connection with Hundley or simply an NFL receiver advancing in his 30s?

“The thing that you hear about is he can’t run anymore, and that’s false,” Carr said. “I can tell you, he’s one of the fastest skill guys that we have. He can run. You see that by his route running. He’s still Jordy Nelson, that’s for sure. I can’t believe Green Bay let him go, but I’m glad he’s here.”

The business side of the NFL precipitated such a move. Happens all the time.

But the reality of the Raiders and Gruden’s love for seasoned players has offered Nelson a second chance, another opportunity, a different platform on which to prove himself.

Hey, it’s still football, just with different guys.

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Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.