Raiders plan to keep Kolton Miller at left tackle

ALAMEDA, Calif. — An arrangement that appeared likely for several weeks is official now. Kolton Miller is staying on the left side.

The Raiders signed ex-New England Patriots left tackle Trent Brown in March to the most lucrative contract for an offensive lineman in NFL history. This drew initial suspicion that Miller could be asked to flip from left to right tackle. Coach Jon Gruden said Friday that Miller will stay put.

Brown will be the starting right tackle in 2019, at least for now.

“We’re going to start with Kolton at left tackle, and Trent will begin on the right side, and Brandon Parker will be the swing tackle,” Gruden said. “We like that as a launching pad for us. Trent played very well at right tackle for San Francisco, played left tackle very well for New England. It gives us some versatility, and that’s how we’re going to start the show.

“Gabe (Jackson) will stay on the right (at guard), and the door is wide open at left guard. We’re going to continue to look at players who can come in and compete at that position.”

Miller played some right tackle at UCLA, but the 2018 first-round pick has worked only at left since entering the league. As Gruden referenced, Brown has done both at the professional level, working exclusively there as recently as 2017 with the San Francico 49ers.

Plenty of action awaits Brown.

In the past two seasons, Denver Broncos edge rusher Von Miller played on Brown’s side on 1,376 of 1,659 snaps (82.9 percent) when aligned in the front seven, according to Pro Football Focus. Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Melvin Ingram aligned there on 512 of 968 snaps in 2018, or 52.9 percent.

It’s unclear how the Kansas City Chiefs will dispatch new edge rusher Frank Clark, whom they acquired from the Seattle Seahawks this month. But he could see much of Brown, too.

The Raiders added Brown with a four-year, $66 million contract. It features $36.25 million guaranteed at signing. His experience on the left side gives coaches an option to flip him to the left during games should Miller exit, making the team less reliant on Parker there.

Parker is considered a better option on the right side than he is at left.

Notable

* The team declined to exercise its fifth-year option on safety Karl Joseph’s contract. This means Joseph is now scheduled to become a free agent in March 2020. “That’s a big story for some people,” Gruden said, “but that does not mean that we don’t want Karl with us this year and in the future. … It does not mean, by any means, that we don’t want Karl Joseph as a captain or a leader on this team, now and in the future.”

* Defenive end Maxx Crosby, a fourth-round pick, is among the Raiders’ rookies whom the organization wants to make strength gains in 2019. “I’ve already talked to (assistant Deuce Gruden) a few times and the whole strength staff,” Crosby said Friday. “I can’t wait to get after it. …I’ve just to keep getting stronger, and I got all summer to do that. I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”

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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.