Like he so often diagnoses plays on the field as a middle linebacker, Denzel Perryman knew exactly what was about to be asked of him as he stood at the lectern.

Still, that did not mean the Pro Bowler was comfortable being asked about an NFL Network report that he was looking for a contract extension from the Las Vegas Raiders at the start of training camp.

"I knew it," Perryman said under his breath as he slowly shook his head. "I knew it was coming. I knew it was coming." The room full of reporters laughed with an amused Perryman. "To answer that question," he continued, "my agent Ron Butler is handling that. I just want to play football. That's it. I've been waiting on [that question]. That's why I'm sweating. I was waiting on it.".

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Perryman then grabbed a towel with his right hand and slowly wiped his face that was glistening as much as it was grinning.

Perryman arrived in Las Vegas via a curious route. After spending his first six seasons with the Chargers, he signed a two-year, $6 million free-agent contract with the Carolina Panthers in the spring of 2021. But after a strange offseason and a vow to not take the COVID-19 vaccine, he was traded to the Raiders, along with a 2022 seventh-round draft pick, at the end of training camp in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round pick.

Perryman resisted getting the shot until, as he said at the time, he could no longer stand feeling like a locker room outcast.

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