Former Pittsburgh Steelers ILB Robert Spillane signed a two-year, $7 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders last offseason. He will face his former team for the second time in as many years come Sunday. And he still has some thoughts about how he wound up in the Black and Silver rather than Gold.
“Leaving [the Steelers] has only [added] to the chip on my shoulder”, Spillane said yesterday, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. “They had a chance to bring me back in free agency but I’m here now and I’m so thankful to be a Raider and I look forward to bringing it to them on Sunday”.
A former college free agent out of Western Michigan, Robert Spillane first broke into the league with the Tennessee Titans. A year later in 2019, he joined the Steelers, signing to their practice squad before a midseason promotion. His role only continued to grow after that, eventually settling into a three-man rotation at inside linebacker.
Now with the Raiders, he is the clear leader of that group, and he is producing. Last season, Spillane recorded 148 tackles, seven for loss, three-and-a-half sacks, three interceptions, and a forced fumble. He leads the NFL with 54 tackles this year through five games, with five for loss, a sack, and an interception.
It seems Robert Spillane is taking the approach of “the best revenge is living well” because he clearly is. While the Raiders are not in a great spot right now, he can help put them in a better position. And he can do that by beating the Steelers and hurting his former team’s own position.
Spillane has at least 10 tackles in every game this season. He recorded a game-sealing interception against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens back in Week 2. During his Steelers days, he recorded an interception against Jackson that he returned for a touchdown.
Prior to his first meeting against the Steelers last year, Spillane said he was going to return some AFC North-style football against them. He did have seven tackles in that game, but the Raiders still lost in the end.
Robert Spillane is hardly the first player to feel slighted when their former team feels differently about them than they believe they are worth. Sometimes teams get it wrong, and clearly Spillane is outperforming his contract.
One can certainly argue that the Steelers should have re-signed Spillane, especially in hindsight. Instead of doing so, they signed Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, and Kwon Alexander. The trio made up a good group until the majority of them suffered major injuries.
A year later, the Steelers threw big money at Patrick Queen, and they used a third-round pick on Payton Wilson. Roberts is the only one remaining from that group last year, and he is still making plays. He reminds me a lot of Spillane, actually, only with more range. We’ll see how close he is at this point in his career to Spillane’s level on Sunday.
