Former Auburn PK Daniel Carlson Dealing with Las Vegas Raiders Rookie Ashton Jeanty

After a rough start to his NFL career, former Auburn Tigers placekicker Daniel Carlson has enjoyed a strong career. When the Minnesota Vikings cut him after two games as a rookie, Carlson's career looked like it would spiral downward. Connecting on just 25% of your kicks doesn't help anyone.

Still, it didn’t show a lot of patience in their fifth-round pick.

However, the Oakland Raiders saw enough potential in the former Tigers standout to bring him in. Since then, all Carlson has managed to do is earn an All-Pro nomination and serve as the best offensive player the Raiders employed for the last six seasons. Now, a rookie has just made his immediate financial future that much brighter.

Raiders first-round draft pick Ashton Jeanty remains a man of habit. While the Boise State running back set records on his way to leading the nation with 2,601 yards, his jersey sporting the number two sprinted away from defenders. Upon his arrival in the desert, Jeanty wanted to keep things moving in a similar direction.

That leads him to wanting to wear his favorite jersey number, No. 2. However, Carlson owned that number. It is tradition that a player will need to exchange something of value in order to acquire the particular digit.

“I didn’t get this for free,” Jeanty said with a laugh on the Up and Adams Show with Kay Adams. “I had to drop a little bag. I call him, and I’m willing to negotiate, you know, ‘whatever you’re thinking.’ I gave him what I was thinking, and he came back.

“I gotta do it. I gotta drop that little bag for No. 2.”

Considering he was dealing with an All-Pro and a kicker, a position notoriously superstitious about things such as digits, Carlson’s price wasn’t going to be cheap.

Adams tried to pry the dollar amount out of Jeanty by throwing out names of cars, including a Honda Accord or a brand-new Lexus.

“You could probably buy a house, like a nice-sized house,” said Jeanty. “Actually, I’m not going to say a house. I’m gonna say a car like a nice Mercedes. You could buy like a nice Mercedes GLE.”

Edmunds.com lists the price range of a 2025 Mercedes GLE from $63,000 to $131,950, depending on the trim level, and it’s a pretty good bet that 21-year-old millionaires aren’t shopping base trims of mid-size-family SUVs.

“He seen that signing bonus,” Jeanty laughed. “The good thing, as well with it, some of the money is going to be given to charity as well.”

As the sixth-overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, Jeanty got a four-year, $35.9-million fully guaranteed contract, with a $22.8-million signing bonus.

The 30-year-old veteran did the right thing in the end for the new face of the Raiders franchise, and he was able to pocket some cash and help out a charity in the meantime.

Daniel Carlson continues to come up clutch.