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[TDJets72027]

Terdell Sands has started one game since entering the NFL in 2001. He was a seventh-round selection in the NFL draft that year. The Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers both gave up on him after one season.

Sands, 27, languished on the sideline under three coaches with the Raiders the past four seasons. Someone always played just well enough to keep Sands in the shadows.

Even so, finding defensive tackles who stand 6-foot-7, weigh 335 pounds and are strong enough to move offensive linemen at will is not an easy task. Hence, the Raiders made signing Sands to a contract extension their top priority in free agency this offseason.

"This guy's a freak of nature," Raiders defensive line coach Keith Millard said of Sands on Tuesday. "I've never seen a guy his size move the way he can and do some of the things he can do."

Such as stop the run and collapse the pocket. In other words, think veteran defensive tackle Ted Washington.

Coincidentally, it's Washington who contributed to the stunting of Sands' development into an every-down player. Washington occupied the middle of Oakland's line in 2004 and 2005, and he passed on the spot to promising third-year player Tommy Kelly last season.

Kelly had his shot and didn't pan out as well as expected. That made Sands all the more attractive once his contract expired after last season.

So it was that the Raiders lavished upon Sands a four-year, $17 million contract that included a $4 million signing bonus.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/raid...nclick_check=1

[49ers121]

I actually wanted the niners to pick him up in the offseason, but he re-signed.

[Roy31]

He kicks ass in Madden.