Tag: Raiders roster cuts

Raiders keep CFL star and undrafted rookie WR on 53-man roster over two established veterans

Raiders keep CFL star and undrafted rookie WR on 53-man roster over two established veterans

One of the more shocking moves the Raiders made today was to cut Kristian Wilkerson. They also cut Jalen Guyton, making for two veteran receivers let go in favor of young hopefuls.

Making the Raiders initial 53-man roster instead are undrafted rookie Ramel Keyton and former CFL return specialist Tyreik McAllister.

Both players flashed in camp. With McAllister blowing everyone away in the final preseason game with an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown and a savvy touchdown catch.

Keyton had a few nice plays late in that game, showing the instincts and physical gifts he had displayed in the team’s scrimmage in camp.

In the end, the Raiders saw the two youngsters as too valuable to cut. Or at very least too risky to put on waivers in the hopes of getting either of them back on the practice squad.

Keyton showed talent that can be developed while McAllister showed return abilities that can be utilized right away.

There is still the question of what the Raiders do on the waiver wire. But for now, these two have broken through onto the roster, beating out two established veterans to do it.

Raiders to release QB Nathan Peterman

Raiders to release QB Nathan Peterman

The return of Nathan Peterman may be a brief one. He was signed by the Raiders exactly two weeks ago after Anthony Brown struggled in the first preseason game. And now Peterman too will be released according to Tom Pelissero.

The 30-year-old journeyman veteran went on to start the final preseason game and play the entire first half. His first four drives featured just two first downs and 36 yards of offense. Finally on his fifth drive, just before the half, he was able to get the Raiders down the field and in the end zone.

Peterman had been with the Saints this offseason, but was released early in camp as the odd man out in a full QB room.

It’s certainly possible the Raiders could ask him back onto the practice squad, but they’d probably prefer to see what is available on the waiver wire before doing that. There could very well be a decent QB out there to be had who would be an upgrade from Peterman.

2024 Raiders roster cuts tracker: Tracking moves at cutdown deadline to reach 53-man roster

Tracking Raiders moves at cutdown deadline to reach 53-man roster

The deadline for all NFL teams to get from 90 players to their initial 53-man roster is coming up on Tuesday at 1pm (4pm ET). Those cuts have begun already and we will track them all right here as they come in.

Waived

QB Carter Bradley (per report)

WR Terrell Bynum (per source)

S Jaydon Grant (per report)

DT Marquan McCall (per source)

QB Nathan Peterman (per report)

S Phalen Sanford (per source)

DT Noah Shannon (per source)

DE Charles Snowden (per report)

DE Ron Stone Jr (per source)

CB Sam Webb (per source)

CB Rayshad Williams (per source)

All moves now official:

10 veterans and returning Raiders firmly on roster bubble

There are a lot of new faces in Raiders camp this year. And with new faces comes new competition to beat out familiar faces. Likewise there are a few veteran players on this team who could see their jobs taken by new blood. These are the ten …

There are a lot of new faces in Raiders camp this year. And with new faces comes new competition to beat out familiar faces. Likewise there are a few veteran players on this team who could see their jobs taken by new blood.

These are the ten returning Raiders and veterans most in danger of being on the outside looking in come roster cutdown day.

This eight-year veteran backup is only here because he’s familiar with Luke Getsy’s system. That only goes so far though. The team could very decide to keep only two quarterbacks on the active roster. And it wouldn’t take much for a more intriguing option to come available on the waiver wire.

Along with being injured through most of camp, this sixth year veteran just hasn’t looked special in his time on the field. Other than Tom Telesco knowing him from their time with the Chargers, Guyton doesn’t really offer anything invaluable to the team. They could be better off taking a chance on Tyreik McAllister or snagging a talented receiver on the waiver wire.

This sixth-year veteran appeared in one game for the Raiders last season. The Raiders would have to, first of all, keep four tight ends for him to stick. And second of all, he’d have to prove he is the best choice. And quite frankly Cole Fotheringham has looked better.

Meredith has been with the Raiders the past two seasons and appeared in 17 games last season. There is eight offensive lineman ahead of him, all of whom have a very good chance of making this roster. He is the one who will be sweating it out on Tuesday and probably Wednesday as well.

He appeared in just six games as a rookie, with no starts. Not exactly what you hope to get from a third round pick. He has admitted he had an attitude problem, which is commendable. But his level of play has not offered any indication that he has made a second year leap. He was on the field a lot in the finale, after which head coach Antonio Pierce was not at all pleased with the play of the interior line.

Nesta Jade Silvera was also in that 2023 class. He was selected in the seventh round. He was also on that line that was getting gashed on the ground against the 49ers. There has been an opening for someone to step up and be the fourth interior defensive lineman. Has he shown he can be that guy? I’m not sure he has.

Is it possible the Raiders could cut all three of these former drafted defensive tackles? Sure it is. Antonio Pierce made it clear that he will be looking to the waiver to try and improve the depth along the interior defensive line. There is a chance one of these three sticks on the initial 53, but it’s just as likely that will be a short stay in favor of a waiver claim.

This 2023 sixth round pick looked good at times this preseason. But he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Meanwhile undrated rookie Amari Gainer has looked great. If Burney doesn’t head for injured reserve, he may just lose out to Gainer.

Speaking of guys who can’t stay healthy. Facyson missed almost the entire 2023 season and now he’s been missing since early in camp. If the best ability is availability, the Raiders can’t hang onto him in the hopes that he can get healthy and stay that way. Either he heads to IR, or they give up on him and move on.

Smith has a fairly good chance of sticking around. But he’s down the depth chart far enough that he is in some danger here. The Raiders selected the Jim Thorpe Award winner Trey Taylor in this past draft, so you’d figure they’d like to hold onto him, making Smith potentially the fifth safety, providing they keep that many safeties on the initial 53.

See my full Raiders 53-man roster prediction

Antonio Pierce lays out position groups Raiders could look to waiver wire to improve roster

Raiders will be scanning the waiver wire to improve these three position groups

Even when the initial 53-man roster is complete, the Raiders are likely not going to be done. In particular there are three position groups Antonio Pierce will be keeping an eye on once the over 1100 players from other NFL teams hit the waiver wire.

Those areas are the offensive line, defensive line, and cornerback.

“I’d like us to improve the line of scrimmage, both on the offensive line and defensive line,” Pierce said Saturday. “Talk about winning that and being physical and dominating up front.”

“When the game comes down to like it did last night and teams want to run the ball and you want to stop the run whether the situation is the four-minute, or taking the ball down into the red zone and you want to finish it off, you want to finish those drives the right way. And those are things we want to improve upon and I know [GM] Tom [Telesco] sees it the same way.”

Pierce was especially frustrated with the inability of the Raiders defensive line to stop the 49ers run game. Time after time, the 49ers offensive line was bullying the Raiders interior line. Even well after the 49ers took their first team offense off the field.

The only interior defensive linemen on this team whose spot is safe is Christian Wilkins, John Jenkins, and Adam Butler. Everyone else is going to have a nervous next few days, some even after the cutdown happens as the Raiders seek potential upgrades to their depth.

The cornerbacks have depth issues as well. After starters Nate Hobbs, Jack Jones, and Jakorian Bennett, the next players are rookies and fringe roster players. None of whom have proven they are ready to step into a starting role if called upon.

“It goes back to the depth at corner. Constantly improving that room,” Pierce continued. “Between wide receivers and DBs you constantly lose those guys throughout the season. And you want to add depth, you want to feel good about that.”

Brandon Facyson was originally in a competition with Bennett to start at outside corner. But that competition ended the moment Facyson went out with injury. Making this the second consecutive season Facyson was injured in camp. Last year he ended up missing basically the entire season. And with him not yet healthy, the team has to prepare for life without him.

“We got to get Brandon on the field,” Pierce said of Facyson. “I can’t even evaluate him because we haven’t had him out there. It’s just tough. It’s put a lot of these younger corners out ahead. And it’s good for them in preseason and in training camp to get reps, but I’m not a believer in throwing young corners out there early if they’re not quite ready. So, it would be good to get Brandon back in the fold and healthy.”

Until that happens, the Raiders must be vigilant in trying to add someone who they feel at least somewhat confident can be the next man up at cornerback. So, look for them to snag someone this week.

Radiers roster cutdown date is coming up soon

Radiers roster cutdown date is coming up soon

It used to be that there were multiple cutdown days for NFL rosters during the preseason. It was the norm to be headed into the final preseason game having already seen a big wave of cuts. No more.

These days there is one big cutdown to get teams from 90 players to 53. And it happens after the full slate of preseason games is done.

Cutdown date: Tuesday, August 27, 1pm Pacific (4pm ET)

Friday night is the Raiders final preseason game. They face the 49ers at 7pm Pacific (10pm ET) at Allegiant Stadium. And every healthy player who is on the roster bubble will play in the game so as to get one last opportunity to prove to their coaches — as well as coaches across the league — that they deserve a roster spot.

Who makes the roster won’t be dependent upon just how they perform in these games. Training camp performance will weigh more heavily. But if a player has looked good in camp and then balls out in from of the rest of the league in games, the Raiders may not want to risk waiving them for fear they wouldn’t make it to the practice squad.

Raiders 2023 roster cuts tracker

We’re tracking all the Raiders roster cuts here

As of a few days ago, the Raiders were sitting at 91 players including IPP player David Agoha. Now their task of trimming the roster to 53 players has begun. The first 11 moves were announced Sunday.

Tuesday, as the deadline approaches, more cuts are coming in. Here is the list which will be updated as they are revealed:

S Jaquan Johnson — per Adam Schefter

DT Isaac Rochell — per himself

Cuts total so far: 13

Cuts remaining: 25

Raiders make first wave of cuts

11 players trimmed from Raiders roster in first wave

NFL teams must get down to 53 players by Tuesday. That means 37 players will either be waived, released, or placed on injured reserve in a matter of hours.

The Raiders made their first big slice into that, clearing 11 from the roster in their first wave of cuts.

Those players were as follows:

Waived

LB Isaac Darkangelo
CB Isiah Brown
DT Doug Costin
CB Bryce Cosby
QB Chase Garbers
G Vitaliy Gurman
RB Darwin Thompson

Waived/injured

WR Chris Lacy

Injured reserve

RB Brittain Brown
TE Jacob Hollister
WR Isaiah Zuber

This brings the Raiders current roster to 80 players plus Josh Jacobs who currently has a roster exemption due to having just been signed to his one-year deal.

That means they will need to cut 27 more players before Tuesday’s deadline. Then 24 hours later, they can sign as many as 16 of them back to the practice squad. It’s going to be busy 24 hours with a lot of players sweating it out.

Raiders make five roster moves ahead of wave of final cuts

Raiders now at 75 players with five roster moves

Tuesday is the day all NFL teams must be officially down to 53 players. Sunday the Raiders made a few moves to get a head start on that big wave of cuts.

Waived today were TE Nick Bowers and WR Justin Hall.

Heading to injured reserve are T Brandon Parker, DT Tyler Lancaster, and LB Tae Davis.

These moves bring the Raiders down to 75 players, which means there will be at least 22 more moves that must happen by Tuesday to get down to 53 players.

Bowers and Hall will go through waivers and if unclaimed, the Raiders could sign them back to the practice squad if they chose to do so.

For a player to be eligible for a return from IR, they would have to be on the roster after the 53-man roster cutdown. That means those players placed on IR are now out for the season.

There is always the possibility of releasing those players with an injury settlement and re-signing them at some point this season.

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Raiders bringing back TE Derek Carrier day after release

Raiders bringing back TE Derek Carrier day after release

Raiders GM Mike Mayock took to the podium Wednesday, a day after the team had made several cuts to get down to the 53-man roster limit. One of the first things he pointed out was this roster as of this moment is not final. That it’s fluid. He noted at least one example of how the roster will change today.

“We’re probably going to make some IR moves today and that may open up a roster spot or two,” said Mayock.

What he means are short-term or partial season IR designations. Had the team put a player on IR yesterday, that player would be lost for the season. But they have a few guys who they figure will miss some of the season, including the likes of Nicholas Morrow, Javin White, and Jalen Richard.

When those moves come down, one player who will be returning according to a source is tight end Derek Carrier.

The veteran tight end was cut yesterday after his fourth training camp with the team while first-year tight end Nick Bowers made the squad. But Gruden likes his tight ends, especially ones who can also play well on special teams such as Carrier. And Mayock hinted that Carrier’s release was not meant to be permanent.

“Derek Carrier has been one of our best special teams players and we’ll see what happens there,” Mayock said, missing only a wink.

As for the other potential additions or returns, it’s all fair game. Mayock suggested that potentially an offensive lineman and/or a linebacker could be incoming soon.

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