Nate Allen now a Raider

The past four weeks for Nate Allen have shifted from cruel and unusual to thrilling and lucrative.

Allen, a 2006 Cape Coral High School graduate, agreed to a four-year contract with the Oakland Raiders right about midnight as Wednesday turned to Thursday morning.

Allen, a Fort Myers resident who had played the previous five seasons at safety for the Philadelphia Eagles, signed less than a month after being falsely arrested and detained for almost five hours by the Fort Myers Police Department on Feb. 16. The state attorney's office cleared Allen a week later on Feb. 23. It issued proof the police department had pulled over the wrong pickup truck. Allen never was charged with any crime.

"We thank the Lord in everything that happens," said Jackie Allen, Nate Allen's father and a Cape Coral resident. "There's a reason for everything. You know where we're coming from. You know our family enough to know how we think and how grateful we are for everything.

"It just shows you when you try to live right and do things right, good things will happen."

Allen, 27, chose the Raiders over the Houston Texans and returning to the Eagles, said Darlene Allen, Nate's mother and a Cape Coral High School teacher.

"It all happened so fast," Darlene Allen said. "I'm so excited he will be getting a fresh start. The Philly fans never gave him enough credit. The Philly fans are tough. He's just so excited. It's a wonderful deal for Nate. It's a blessing."

Financial terms of the contract have yet to be disclosed. Allen made $3 million last season and has made about $8 million over the course of his career according to spotrac.com, which monitors NFL player contracts.

The Eagles drafted Allen in the second round in 2010 out of the University of South Florida. He had 62 tackles and four interceptions last season. In five seasons, Allen compiled 324 tackles and 10 interceptions.

"To tell you the truth, I don't even get wrapped up in all the free agency stuff," Allen told the Oakland media in a conference call. "I just kind of let everything fall into place. I had always known there was interest there, and then this year, right when free agency started up, they were there again, knocking. The interest has always been there and I just needed to come out here and visit and see what was going on. I fell in love with everything out here."

Darlene and Jackie Allen said they intended to use and earn even more frequent flyer miles now that their son will be playing across the country. Some of the Raiders' road trips this season are slated for Pittsburgh, Denver, Kansas City, Cleveland, Tennessee, Chicago and Detroit.

"He loves it," Jackie Allen said of Allen and the Raiders. "It's another chapter. Philly was a learning thing. Five years. He's a seasoned veteran now. I guess Oakland saw a lot in him, you know. Like last night, he was talking to Charles Woodson (defensive back) and Willie Brown (Raiders administrator). They wanted him.

"The coaches, they know, man. The football coaches, they know kids. They watch film. They know everything."

Allen said he looked forward to teaming with Woodson, a 38-year-old safety who entered the NFL in 1998, when Allen turned 11.

"He is who he is, a future Hall of Famer," Allen said. "Just to be able to work alongside a dude like that, I mean I couldn't ask for a better situation. He's been around the game for what, 18 years now? This is his 18th year, so he's seen just about everything and been through just about everything so I just feel like I have a lot that I can learn from him."

MATT PRATER'S CONTRACT DETAILS

Matt Prater, an Estero High School graduate and former Cypress Lake High football player as well, signed a two-year, $4.55 million contract with the Detroit Lions. The contract has a team option for 2017, the Detroit Free Press reported. Prater has per-game roster bonuses of $12,500 in 2015 and $15,625 in 2016 and $15,625 in 2017, along with a $250k roster bonus in 2017.

Connect with this reporter: David Dorsey (Facebook), @DavidADorsey (Twitter).