Many moves that are made in the roster cuts were expected. But there are always a few surprises in there. Some make no sense, while others may seem not to make sense until you take a deep look. So, let’s do that.
Injured LB Morrow, LB White, RB Richard On Roster
These players being on the roster instead of being either waived/injured or placed on injured reserve suggests one thing: short-term IR.
In order to place a player on short-term IR, a player must be on the initial 53-man roster. If they were put on IR now, their season would be over. Clearly, the Raiders think all three of these players could return during the season. And when they are placed on partial season IR, the team can add or bring back three players to fill those spots.
One of whom will be LB Denzel Perryman, who the team acquired in a trade from the Panthers. Another could be undrafted RB Trey Ragas who Jon Gruden really likes.
S Karl Joseph Cut In Favor Of Roderic Teamer
Joseph was lauded during training camp for being a valuable veteran presence along with Casey Hayward. And Joseph had a great game in the preseason finale against the 49ers. But the mere fact that he played extensively in that game suggested his spot on the team was not secure.
The question is why. Well, it may not have been anything Joseph did. It could simply be that Teamer beat him out. Not only did Teamer play well in his preseason action, Gus Bradley is familiar with him. Teamer started six games for Bradley with the Chargers in 2019. Right or wrong, Bradley clearly likes Teamer and ultimately opted to keep him over the veteran Joseph.
TE Nick Bowers Kept Over Derek Carrier
Carrier has been somewhat of a scholarship player for the Raiders over the past three seasons, making the team despite not doing a whole lot on offense. Last season he appeared in 16 games and collected exactly one catch for 14 yards. He does most of his work on special teams which meant it was going to happen eventually that the team found a young tight end who could do it as good or better. The team liked Bowers enough last year to keep him on the practice squad. He now breaks through to the roster.
WR John Brown Granted Release
All offseason, Brown was talked about as the heir apparent to Nelson Agholor. The 31-year-old had over 1,000 yards receiving in 2019 and figured to compete for a starting job with the Raiders. But come last Sunday, he was on the field while every other receiver who made the roster was not.
It was clear Brown had fallen down the depth chart and therefore asked for his release and the Raiders granted it. He is hoping he can catch on with a team on which he sees more snaps than he was feeling he would get with the Raiders. That is, of course, if the Raiders were even going to keep him had he no asked for his release.
CB Isaiah Johnson Cut
This was a surprise to some. I had him among the cuts in my 53-man roster projection because he was simply the odd man out. The 2019 fourth-round pick was hurt most of camp and saw fellow mid-round drafted cornerbacks Nate Hobbs and Amik Robertson lap him.
It ended up being a decision between him and Keisean Nixon and the team has long liked Nixon as a scrappy competitor both on defense and on special teams. Nixon is currently banged up, so we’ll wait to see if it’s anything serious enough to consider partial season IR or if he’ll return in short order.
Also, remember the Raiders will have a 16-man practice squad that is open to several veterans, so if Johnson goes unclaimed, he could always re-sign to the practice squad.
See all the Raiders’ initial 53-man roster cuts here.
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