5 surprise moves by Raiders at cut deadline and what to make of them

There are always surprises that happen at the cutdown deadline for each team. High profile free agents are signed, players are drafted and hyped up, and camp reports have everyone excited about players only to see them let go. 1. Swing tackle …

3. FS Damarious Randall released

The team is eating $1.5 million in dead money by signing Randall this offseason then releasing him. With him, they had great depth at the safety spot. Now they have Johnathan Abram and Erik Harris as the starters and Jeff Heath as the backup.

Making sense of it: Erik Harris won the starting job. Randall is a veteran who doesn’t play special teams. That’s it first and foremost. Backups need to play special teams as roster spots are at a premium. They have that in Heath and Dallin Leavitt, who once again defied all the predictors and made the Raiders roster.

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