For the most part, Saturday was a “dud” in terms of big news in the NFL. Often, there are several surprise cuts or trades around the league as teams cut their rosters down to 53 players. But for the most part, it was a quiet day for most teams.
The one team that did make some news was the Las Vegas Raiders as they traded away Lynn Bowden Jr after just selecting him with the No. 80 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Raiders were hoping that the former Paul Horning Award winner would be able to make the transition to running back, but he struggled in camp and wasn’t good enough to make the 53-man roster.
While it is disappointing that Bowden didn’t work out in Las Vegas, it does offer a bit of good news in regards to how the Raiders are building their football team. Simply put, they aren’t going to let draft capital and money influence who are the best players on their roster. The best 53 players will make the team, regardless of where they were drafted or how much guaranteed money they received.
Another example of this is the release of veteran safety Damarious Randall. Over the offseason, Randall received a one-year deal worth $3.25 million with $1.5 million guaranteed. While that’s not a significant amount of money in NFL terms, rarely do you see teams walk away from players with that much guaranteed money on their contract.
But like Bowden, Randall wasn’t good enough to make this team. He practiced only a few times during camp and was beaten out for playing time by Erik Harris and Jeff Heath.
It’s never fun to see your team make mistakes in free agency and in the draft. But what can be worse is if a team continues holding onto their mistake, hoping something changes. Once the Raiders knew that neither player was the right fit for the roster, they moved on. While those moves sting now, the Raiders will be much better off in the long run with this time of team-building philosophy.
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