Three sacks. That’s what Arden Key had in his first three NFL seasons as a third-round pick by the Raiders. And his final season with the Raiders, he had zero. The man who was initially thought to have all the talent, but with some character red flags, wasn’t living up to even the talent potential he had displayed.
Then the Raiders cut him. And he headed to San Francisco to try and find his way.
Find his way he did, with a resurgent season that saw him more than double his entire career sack total in one season.
Key put up 6.5 sacks in his one season with the Raiders’ former cross-bay rivals along with 17 QB hits. His previous career-high for QB hits was 11.
Now, instead of being cut, and trying to catch on elsewhere, he headed to free agency with teams vying for his services.
The team that landed him was the big-spending Jaguars, signing him to a one-year, $7 million deal.
The #Jaguars announced the signing of DL Arden Key. Source says it’s a one-year deal that’s worth up to $7 million.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 30, 2022
That’s a nice payday for Key. It isn’t a long-term deal, which means he will have to once again prove 2021 wasn’t a fluke. And if he can do that, he will hit free agency in 2023 at the age of 26.
Good for Key to finally put it all together. Raiders fans may remember the amount of buzz he generated in his rookie camp only to end up with the reputation of getting into opposing offense’s backfield but coming out of it with just one sack.
He didn’t miss those opportunities last season and appears to finally be showing what the Raiders saw in him when they chose him at No. 87 back in the 2018 draft.