ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders filled their void at left tackle on Wednesday by signing free agent Donald Penn to a two-year contract. Penn fills the opening created when Jared Veldheer left as a free agent for Arizona and left unfilled when Rodger Saffold failed his physical after agreeing to a five-year, $42.5 million deal with Oakland. NFL Network reported that Penns contract is worth $9.6 million with $4.2 million guaranteed. Oakland also announced that safety Usama Young officially signed the two-year deal he agreed to last week to return to the Raiders. Penn, who turns 30 next month, was released earlier this month by Tampa Bay after the Buccaneers signed Anthony Collins to a five-year, $30 million contract to take over at left tackle. Penn struggled in pass protection last season with Tampa Bay, allowing 12 sacks, including nine in the final six games, according to Pro Football Focus. Only one tackle -- Will Beatty of the Giants -- was blamed for more sacks last season. Penn also allowed 28 quarterback hurries and six quarterback hits and ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of total pressures allowed. Penn was more successful as a run blocker -- an area where the Raiders needed improvement this off-season. He has played in 122 career games over his eight seasons with Tampa Bay, including 108 consecutive starts at left tackle since 2007. Penn visited Oakland last week but left without signing a deal. He then met with the Washington Redskins about playing right tackle before finally ending up back with the Raiders. The Raiders have placed a high priority in free agency on upgrading the offensive line, having also reached deals with right tackle Austin Howard and interior lineman Kevin Boothe. They also re-signed Khalif Barnes before he hit the open market. The Raiders had little continuity on the line last season as injuries and poor play forced Oakland to use eight different starting line combinations. Young joined Oakland last season on a one-year deal with expectations of becoming the starting free safety. But a little more than a month after signing Young, the Raiders signed Charles Woodson to a one-year deal to fill that spot. Young moved into a backup role and played well when he got his chance on defence and special teams. He started once in his 12 games before being placed on injured reserve with a neck injury in December. The 29-year-old Young had one interception, three passes defenced and 2 1/2 sacks last season with the Raiders, playing about one-quarter of the defensive snaps when healthy. Cheap NHL Jerseys . Alexander was released last week by the Edmonton Eskimos, where he spent the past three seasons at safety. He had 121 defensive tackles, five special teams tackles and seven interceptions in 51 regular-season and three playoff games. Authentic NHL Jerseys .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. https://www.cheapnhljerseysjustwholesale.com/. Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. NHL Jerseys .The 24-year-old quarterback spent four seasons at Northern Illinois and in 2013 was a finalist for the Heisman, which is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in U. Wholesale NHL Jerseys . Damyean Dotson, 19, Dominic Artis, 19 and Brandon Austin, 18, were suspended after the school received a police report concerning allegations made by a student who said she was assaulted by the players in early March.Laurent Duvernay-Tardif has become a master of time management. This off-season, the McGill Redmen offensive tackle/medical student has deftly juggled his schedule to accommodate working 60-plus hours a week in the pediatric emergency ward at Montreal Childrens Hospital, working out, playing football in Florida and travelling across the U.S. for individual sessions and visits with NFL officials. On Friday and Saturday, hell spend some well-earned down time watching television to learn where his football future lies. The six-foot-five, 314-pound Duvernay-Tardif is projected to go anywhere between the third and seventh rounds of the NFL draft, which begins Thursday night with the first round. The second and third rounds will go Friday, with the final four being held Saturday. "Ive enjoyed every moment of this process," the articulate Duvernay-Tardif said in a telephone interview. "Its been really intense but at the same time its amazing to think I might play in the NFL, which is a dream. "This process isnt one every 23-year-old gets to go through and I believe the interviews alone are something that will help me in my life. Ive really enjoyed it." Duvernay-Tardif, a converted defensive lineman, has been firmly entrenched atop the CFL central scouting bureaus list of the top-15 prospects for the May 13 draft. But the native of St. Hilaire, Que., has seen his NFL stock skyrocket following his pro day in Montreal in March. Auditioning for nine NFL teams -- Oakland, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Arizona, New York Jets, Green Bay, Chicago, San Francisco and Buffalo -- and four CFL clubs -- Montreal, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa -- the two-time All-Canadian was impressive in posting a 40-yard dash time of 4.94 seconds, a 31.5-inch vertical and 34 reps in the bench press. Duvernay-Tardif wasnt invited to the NFL combine but those numbers were as good as any offensive lineman who tested in Indianapolis. NFL draft guru Mike Mayock, a former Toronto Argonauts defensive back, says Duvernay-Tardif -- who was featured in Sports Illustrated in March -- has definitely impressed. "I think Duvernay-Tardif has gone from an afterthought to a solid fourth- or fifth-round developmental project with starter skills," he said. Gil Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys player-personnel director, also sees the towering McGill star being drafted. "I would imagine that a team will take a chance on him around the sixth or seventh round and hope to turn him into an NFL player," Brandt wrote in his blog on the NFLs website. However, Duvernay-Tardif isnt the only Canadian garnering NFL interest. Also highly regarded is Brent Urban, a six-foot-seven, 298-pound defensive tackle from the University of Virginia who was a 2013 second-round pick of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Urban, of Mississauga, Ont., was a two-year starter for the Cavaliers who was invited to this years Senior Bowl but missed the game due to injury. Injuries are the biggest knock against Urban but teams definitely like his ability in a 3-4 defensive scheme (three down linemen, four linebackers). "The Urban kid is interesting," Mayock said. "I wanted to see more of him at the Senior Bowl and he got hurt. "The five technique is probably his best position, a 3-4 defensiive end in a 3-4 defence.ddddddddddddI think he can go in the third round. I think hes a big, strong kid. Hes stout. In addition to playing that five technique, he could probably move inside also. So I like him and I think theres some significant upside there." Last year, Rice tight end Luke Willson, a native of LaSalle, Ont., was the lone Canadian drafted, going in the fifth round to the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks. In 2012, a record four players from Canada were selected. Three Canadians -- defensive linemen Tyrone Crawford of Windsor, Ont. (third round, Dallas) and Christo Bilukidi of Ottawa (sixth round, Oakland) and centre Philip Blake of Toronto (fourth round, Denver) -- were drafted. So was Akiem Hicks, an American defensive lineman who played at the University of Regina (third round, New Orleans). Other Canucks who could hear their name called include Winnipeg natives T.J. Jones, a receiver at Notre Dame, and John Urschel, an offensive lineman at Penn State, as well as Oregon linebacker Bo Lokombo, of Abbotsford, B.C. Duvernay-Tardif, Canadian university footballs top lineman in 13, performed at his pro day weighing 298 pounds, some 17 pounds under his playing weight at the East-West Shrine Bowl in January. But that was by design so Duvernay-Tardif could be quicker and more explosive in testing. "There are many NFL teams that like bigger offensive lineman and others like the Philadelphia Eagles who like offensive linemen to be a bit smaller and quicker," he said. "I think I was able to show I could be both kinds of player." Duvernay-Tardif said he visited with nine NFL teams following his pro day, with many curious how he can juggle football with his heavy academic load. During the season at McGill, Duvernay-Tardif had a limited practice schedule because of his studies, meaning he had to be imaginative in order to keep up. "I think most teams believe being involved in medicine is a plus but they want to know why and how youre able to manage that," he said. "I had to tell teams I was watching a lot of film by myself and having Facetime meetings with my coach to prepare for games because I wasnt able to attend every practice. "But when its time to go to the board and draw concepts and schemes and explain them, I can do that because I think medicine has helped me become a cerebral guy and able to process information." However, not all the questions Duvernay-Tardif faced dealt with football. "All the questions about drugs and arrests are kind of (out there) for me but I guess its a reality of professional football," he said. "But every time they did, I was like, What? For sure, no, I am not doing coke (cocaine) or anything like that." For prospects like Duvernay-Tardif, the draft culminates months of uncertainty and seemingly endless testing and intense questioning. However, Duvernay-Tardif wont be content just hearing his name called and signing an NFL contract. "The draft is important and will be a great moment," he said. "But at the same time if I go to a team and get cut during training camp I wouldnt have done anything. "My main focus will be going to training camp and working hard to make the team." ' ' '