ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders have signed center Rodney Hudson to a multi-year contract extension, the club announced Friday.
Hudson, a two-time Pro Bowler (2016-17) and one of the team's most durable players, originally signed to the Raiders as an unrestricted free agent in the 2015 offseason. Also voted by his teammates as a two-time winner of the Commitment to Excellence Award, Hudson has started in all 61 appearances at center and anchors an offensive line that ranks fifth in sacks surrendered (127) since his arrival in 2015.
Last season, the 6-foot-2, 315-pound center started in all 16 contests for the fourth consecutive season and was named a Pro Bowl alternate. Per Pro Football Focus, Hudson tallied 1,074 snaps without surrendering a single sack in 2018, while allowing just one hit and four quarterback hurries, earning the top pass-blocking efficiency grade (99.6) in the NFL among all centers. According to PFF, no center to play at least 1,000 snaps last season allowed fewer than eight quarterback hurries.
In 2017, Hudson earned his second Pro Bowl honor after leading an offensive line that allowed just 24 sacks on the year, tied for third-fewest in the NFL. His 2016 campaign was highlighted by his first Pro Bowl selection after helping the team post the fewest sacks allowed (18) in the NFL that season and fewest by the Silver and Black since the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger. In doing so, Hudson also landed a spot on the Pro Football Writers Association All-AFC Team for the first time in his career.
A former second-round selection (55th overall) of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2011 NFL Draft, Hudson played four years for the Chiefs and appeared in 51 games for the club, making 35 starts at both center and guard during his time there.
A native of Mobile, Ala., Hudson played collegiately at Florida State from 2007-10, appearing in 53 games and making 50 starts. He earned All-Atlantic Coast honors all four years with the program and set a conference career record being named ACC Player of the Week honors nine times, while also becoming the 11th player in league history to win the Jacobs Blocking Award twice in a career (2009-10).
