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Big man has hops

[Mr KLC]

The Oakland Raiders could be getting back the services of left tackle Donald Penn as soon as this upcoming week, according to Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle. Penn has held out from joining the team for over three weeks due to a contract dispute.

Penn is coming off the second Pro Bowl season of his career, serving as the blindside for Raiders franchise quarterback Derek Carr. Carr himself got paid this past summer by the organization to the tune of becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history. But he has had to open the 2017 preseason without his personal bodyguard fending off edge rushers for him.

Since his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007, Penn has not missed a regular-season contest. He spent seven years with the Bucs, starting 108 of the 112 games he appeared in, before signing with Oakland in March 2014.

Named to the Pro Bowl for the first time in 2010 with Tampa Bay, he earned the honor last season alongside teammates Rodney Hudson and Kelechi Osemele. The group was responsible for keeping Carr upright for the majority of the year and played a large part in the team’s 12-4 regular season in 2016.

If Penn does join Oakland at some point this week, his next opportunity to appear in game action with the team will come on Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys. Oakland has two preseason games remaining before the start of the regular season.