Tag: Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders reportedly interested in free agent former 1st round QB, but feeling not mutual

The Raiders are reportedly interested in signing former Giants first round pick QB Daniel Jones, but Jones isn’t interested in them.

Sunday the Raiders went from a team without a great QB situation to a team desperate for a quarterback. As it happens, right around the same time, the Giants were waiving their former sixth overall pick quarterback Daniel Jones.

So, naturally the question was if the Raiders might try to sign him should he clear waivers.

“Any free agent or anybody to be claimed, that’s third floor,” said Antonio Pierce on Monday regarding the potential interest in Jones. “So, [Tom] Telesco and that group is the head of it, and obviously, we’ll see what happens by the end of the day.”

Well, the third floor is said to be interested in Jones, according to Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports, Jones isn’t reciprocating that interest. He apparently would rather be a backup with a playoff team and the Raiders ain’t that.

It wouldn’t do much for the Raiders’ hopes at present, but if Jones could find new life in Las Vegas, he could have potentially helped them in future. Sounds like that’s off the table and the Raiders will have to work with what they have which is Desmond Ridder and Aidan O’Connell who they hope will return this week off injured reserve.

Former Giants QB Daniel Jones clears waivers, now a free agent

Former New York Giants QB Daniel Jones is free to sign with any NFL team after clearing waivers on Monday.

Recently released New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones cleared waivers on Monday making him an unrestricted free agent who is eligible to sign with any team.

Jones is not expected to make a hasty decision but has made it known that he would like to signed with a contender who is headed for the postseason.

Teams rumored to be interested in Jones are said to be the Baltimore Ravens, Las Vegas Raiders and Minnesota Vikings.

Baltimore has not made any statements about Jones as they are preparing for their Monday night game against the Chargers in Los Angeles.

The Vikings didn’t seem like they were anxious to pursue Jones either.

“I’ve been a fan of Daniel’s for a long time, and I hope wherever his next stop takes him, it’s a good opportunity for him,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said, via Alec Lewis.

The Raiders are 2-9 after their loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday and Jones would both be wise and prudent to stay away from them as they are just as dysfunctional as the team who just cut him.

Whichever team signs Jones will likely do so for the NFL league minimum salary for veterans with four to six years of service, which is $1.125 million.

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Raiders PFF grades: 5 highest rated Week 12 vs. Broncos

The Raiders keep losing, and their streak has hit seven games. Which players had a good day despite the defeat in Las Vegas on Sunday?

The Raiders’ prolonged slide continued on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium when they lost their seventh consecutive game, this time to their AFC West rival, the Broncos.

Coach Antonio Pierce saw his team fight hard until the end, and even though it wasn’t enough for a win, some players had good days despite the defeat. Defensive end Maxx Crosby received the best grade on the team from Pro Football Focus this week, earning an “A” with his 90.1 score.

Crosby didn’t record a quarterback sack but had three tackles for loss, including two in a row late in the game. They set up a third-and-15 play the Broncos couldn’t convert, forcing a field goal attempt.

Curiously, the rest of the players on PFF’s list are offensive linemen, led by guard Jordan Meredith. The Raiders offensive line has struggled to create open lanes for running backs this season and Las Vegas had just 69 rushing yards.

But Raiders running backs had just 13 carries total compared to 53 pass attempts for Las Vegas. That’s a huge disparity, and the lack of balance makes it tougher to block overall. Despite five QB sacks surrendered vs. Denver, this group had perhaps its best game of the year.

Missing from this list is rookie tight end Brock Bowers. The Broncos slowed him significantly after he had a huge game the week before against the Dolphins. Look for him to rebound on Friday against the Chiefs, regardless of who plays quarterback for Las Vegas.

Add short week to long list of Raiders challenges preparing to face Chiefs Week 13

The Chiefs are still the best team in football. Sitting atop the AFC at 10-1 on the season and are undefeated at Arrowhead. That’s where the Raiders are headed. Enough of a challenge in and of itself. But they will do so on a short week, which means …

The Chiefs are still the best team in football. Sitting atop the AFC at 10-1 on the season and are undefeated at Arrowhead.

That’s where the Raiders are headed. Enough of a challenge in and of itself. But they will do so on a short week, which means they won’t even have time for an actual practice.

“Really won’t be able to practice this week, there’ll be walk-thrus for the most part,” said head coach Antonio Pierce.

Monday will be for rehab from Sunday’s game — something they usually have a couple days of. Then they have two days before they hop on a plane on Thanksgiving day to head for Kansas City for the game on Friday.

Oh, yeah, and they will do all this while trying to figure out who will be starting at quarterback.

Gardner Minshew is lost for the season, Aidan O’Connell is coming off injured reserve this week and may not be ready, and Desmond Ridder has only been with the team a month with almost no work with the first team offense.

This is how they will go into the lion’s den against a top five defense against a Chiefs team looking for revenge in their own house against the last team to beat them there.

Meanwhile, the defense has to try and prepare for Patrick Mahomes and company without two starting cornerbacks.

I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom about this, but there is no question the Raiders have considerable challenges ahead of them this week.

Raiders ‘ramping up’ Aidan O’Connell opening door for potential return Week 13 vs Chiefs

With Gardner Minshew out for the season, the Raiders may have to expedite return of Aidan O’Connell from injured reserve week 13 vs Chiefs.

It’s a hell of a week to have uncertainty at the quarterback position for the Raiders. They will have four days to prepare to face the rival Chiefs at Arrowhead and as of now have their starting QB out for the season and their next best option uncertain if he’ll be healthy enough to go.

“We’ll see if Aidan [O’Connell] is good to go,” head coach Antonio Pierce said Monday. “He’s been ramping up.”

O’Connell has been on injured reserve the past four weeks rehabbing a broken thumb. He will return to practice, opening the window for his return to the active roster, but a lot remains to be seen if he will be ready.

“We’ll just have to see and I’ll have to rely on our doctors and medical staff,” Pierce said. But it’s more than that. Even if he’s cleared medically, he has to pass the eye test

“I know Aidan. I think we all know what it looks like when he’s feeling right and that hand is correct and able for him to perform at a level and help us win a game,” Pierce added.

“So, just seeing him able to grip the ball, comfortable, hopefully no pain there. And just being able to be efficient. Putting a player out there that’s hurting or injured still, that’s not in the benefit of the player or our team.”

Should Pierce or the other coaches feel like O’Connell is not ready, they would turn to Desmond Ridder, who Pierce admitted after the game Sunday night that he hasn’t seen nearly enough from to be confident that he can handle starting duties after just a month with the team.

It’s going to be a late day today for the Raiders as they have to try get a read on O’Connell’s level of readiness and make some kind of decision on who will be starting at quarterback when they head to Kansas City.

Does Broncos QB Bo Nix have an injury?

Broncos QB Bo Nix was wrapped on the sideline on Sunday, but the team never announced any injury.

Story update: Broncos QB Bo Nix (back) was listed as a limited participant on the team’s estimated Thursday injury report. See our original post below.

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix appeared to be bothered by some kind of back-related injury against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, but the team never announced any kind of injury designation for Nix.

Nix played the whole game and neither he nor coach Sean Payton mentioned any kind of injury following a 29-19 win. Payton said “I’m not going to hit any injuries today” during his Monday conference call.

So we probably won’t get official word on whether Nix has any kind of injury until the team releases an injury report later this week. The fact that he finished the game and did not mention an injury seems like a good sign.

Elsewhere on the injury front, Payton did break his no injury update stance to say that defensive lineman Zach Allen (heel) “should be fine.” After the game on Sunday, Payton said the injury for cornerback Riley Moss (MCL) “wasn’t really serious.”

It sounds like mostly good news across the board for Denver, but we’ll learn more when the first injury report comes out mid-week.

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A Raiders fan got kicked out of his seat after he accidentally shattered a glass barrier in the upper deck

Don’t be that fan.

When the Raiders left Oakland to move into the $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, they hoped to offer fans an experience at one of the league’s best facilities. And while the stadium is spectacular, $1.9 billion doesn’t necessarily stand up to the recklessness of some Raiders fans.

We saw just that on Sunday.

Video hit social media from the Raiders’ 29-19 Week 12 loss to the Broncos showing a fan seated in the upper deck somehow shattering a layer of a glass barrier at the front of the section. The fan was seated several rows up, but he left his seat to hit against that glass barrier. And when it broke, he essentially celebrated the damage by posing for photos.

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Thankfully, the entire barrier didn’t shatter — just an interior layer of glass — because that would have been awful for the fans seated below. Another video did show that Allegiant Stadium staff and police officers escorted the fan out of his seat.

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That’s certainly one way to get kicked out of a stadium.

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Sean Payton ‘getting to appreciate’ Broncos-Raiders rivalry

“It’s a storied franchise, just like we are,” Sean Payton said. “That is what makes this division unique. I’m getting to appreciate that.” 

Before Sean Payton arrived, the Denver Broncos had an eight-game losing streak to the Las Vegas Raiders, which was snapped earlier this year when the Broncos beat the Raiders 34-18 at home in Week 5.

After that, Denver still had an eight-game road losing streak against their division rival (four losses in Las Vegas and four losses in Oakland). The Broncos snapped that streak on Sunday with a 29-19 win in Las Vegas.

Denver flipped from always losing to the Raiders to having swept them in 2024, which likely explains in part why Payton was so fired up after the game.

“Listen, when you go someplace and people talk about in a while they haven’t done — even though a lot of these players weren’t here — you exorcize these demons,” Payton said. “Hadn’t beaten the Raiders in how long? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. We beat them twice this year. We’re focused on the next game. Obviously the division games matter.

“Listen, the appreciation for beating the Raiders. Listen, at a young age, I was fortunate to interview with Al Davis three weekends for the head coaching job. Bought a black suit and a silver tie. But if Jerry Jones is the last person you see, you’re probably staying. I ended up staying [with the Dallas Cowboys] in 2003. Paul Kelley, who was with us, picked me up at the airport in Oakland. It’s a storied franchise, just like we are. That is what makes this division unique. I’m getting to appreciate that.” 

Denver is now 2-2 in the AFC West, with both of the team’s division wins coming against Las Vegas.

“It’s huge,” quarterback Bo Nix said of sweeping the Raiders. “It’s what your goal is going into the season. They’re a good football team. We played ’em two tough games. We got two good wins out of it. I know after last year, it was the opposite.

“It was good for us to find a way to win this game, find a way to go in a hostile road environment against a divisional team. They’re fighting every week. They’re a good football team. It was a good win for us. Happy for the guys.”

The Broncos have five games remaining this season, including division games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs. The upcoming stretch of games will determine Denver’s playoff fate.

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Broncos PFF grades: Best, worst players from 29-19 win over Raiders

Quinn Meinerz (94.0) was the Broncos’ best player on Sunday, followed by CB Riley Moss (90.5). View more PFF grades here.

Following the Denver Broncos‘ 29-19 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Pro Football Focus has released grades for each player’s Week 12 performance.

PFF grades players on a 0 (worst) to 100 (best) scale. Check out the best and worst of Week 12 below.

Best Offensive Players 

  • OL Quinn Meinerz: 94.0
  • OT Garett Bolles: 79.8
  • WR Devaughn Vele: 77.5
  • QB Bo Nix: 75.5
  • C Luke Wattenberg: 70.0

A good day overall for the offensive line and another solid performance from QB Bo Nix and WR Devaughn Vele. WR Courtland Sutton (67.8) received the sixth-best grade on offense, followed by tackle Mike McGlinchey (65.5).

Best Defensive Players 

  • CB Riley Moss: 90.5
  • CB Pat Surtain: 83.0
  • DB Brandon Jones: 76.9
  • DB P.J. Locke: 72.3
  • CB Damarri Mathis: 71.1

Riley Moss left with a knee injury but played well before that. Brandon Jones had a game-changing interception. If you don’t count Mathis, who played just two defensive snaps, the fifth-best defender on the day was pass rusher Nik Bonitto (71.0).

Worst Offensive Players 

  • TE Adam Trautman: 43.5
  • OL Matt Peart: 50.3
  • RB Javonte Williams: 50.3
  • TE/FB Nate Adkins: 50.3
  • G Ben Powers: 51.9

TE Lucas Krull (52.9) received the sixth-worst grade on offense. Denver would be wise to have TE and RB listed among the team’s top needs on offense in the offseason.

Worst Defensive Players 

  • DL Jordan Jackson: 33.6
  • OLB Jonah Elliss: 35.4
  • LB Levelle Bailey: 37.0
  • CB Ja’Quan McMillian: 37.8
  • LB Justin Strnad: 43.5

With Alex Singleton coming back from a torn ACL at 30 years old, the Broncos should target an inside linebacker in 2025 as well.

Special Teams 

  • ST Jonah Elliss: 72.6
  • LS Mitchell Fraboni: 65.1
  • R Marvin Mims: 60.5
  • K Wil Lutz: 76.5 (FG) 53.9 (KO)
  • P Riley Dixon: 67.9

You can view grades for every player on the paid version of PFF’s website.

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Raiders Week 12 snap counts vs Broncos: RB Dylan Laube makes impact on special teams

Even with the Raiders lead backs Zamir White and Alexander Mattison out with injury, the rookie Dylan Laube saw zero offensive snaps.

If I might finish that headline “…and special teams only.”

For all the talk of the rookie tailback getting his most extensive work in this game due to the injuries to lead backs Zamir White and Alexander Mattison, Laube didn’t see a single snap on offense. Not just no carries, but no snaps.

You might recall Laube has just one carry this season and he fumbled it.

Laube did, however, see 13 snaps on special teams and had one of the game’s biggest plays, returning a kick 59 yards to set up the Raiders’ only touchdown in the game.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Kolton Miller T 77 100% 5 15%
Dylan Parham G 77 100% 5 15%
DJ Glaze T 77 100% 5 15%
Jackson Powers-Johnson C 77 100% 5 15%
Jakobi Meyers WR 76 99% 0 0%
Brock Bowers TE 72 94% 0 0%
Jordan Meredith G 70 91% 4 12%
Ameer Abdullah RB 69 90% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 69 90% 0 0%
Gardner Minshew II QB 64 83% 0 0%
DJ Turner WR 48 62% 21 62%
Michael Mayer TE 34 44% 10 29%
Desmond Ridder QB 13 17% 0 0%
Sincere McCormick RB 8 10% 4 12%
Andrus Peat G 7 9% 5 15%
Justin Shorter TE 4 5% 15 44%
Ramel Keyton WR 3 4% 8 24%
Kana’i Mauga LB 2 3% 20 59%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Maxx Crosby DE 68 100% 7 21%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 68 100% 7 21%
Decamerion Richardson CB 68 100% 0 0%
Jack Jones CB 68 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 68 100% 0 0%
Robert Spillane LB 68 100% 0 0%
Adam Butler DT 60 88% 7 21%
Divine Deablo LB 55 81% 5 15%
Darnay Holmes CB 52 76% 0 0%
John Jenkins DT 38 56% 9 26%
Jonah Laulu DT 37 54% 9 26%
Tyree Wilson DE 30 44% 9 26%
Thomas Harper FS 23 34% 21 62%
K’Lavon Chaisson LB 23 34% 0 0%
Charles Snowden DE 12 18% 7 21%
Janarius Robinson DE 6 9% 2 6%
Zachary Carter DT 3 4% 0 0%
Amari Burney LB 1 1% 29 85%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Tommy Eichenberg LB 0 0% 29 85%
Amari Gainer LB 0 0% 27 79%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 20 59%
Trey Taylor SS 0 0% 15 44%
Dylan Laube RB 0 0% 13 38%
Sam Webb CB 0 0% 11 32%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 10 29%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 10 29%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 10 29%
Thayer Munford T 0 0% 5 15%
Kyu Blu Kelly CB 0 0% 4 12%
Andre James C 0 0% 1 3%