Oakland Raiders Preseason 2010: First Five Out The Door…Who's Next?

Cable watching from the sidelines
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As it was known, Oakland had until today to remove five players from their 80-man roster, down to 75 players.

Today, the last player was named. The five removed were Tony Stewart, Chane Moline, Allen Smith, Paul Hubbard and now Eric Butler.

With the players, most were camp bodies, with a limited time to make enough impression to make the club. Tony Stewart, was a player with some caliber for the Raiders, known for his special teams play, but also a Tight End on call if a double set was needed.

For all these players, a little slide show. And who knows, down the road, you might see them again—after all, once a Raider, always a Raider.

Tony Stewart: TE

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Tony Stewart, a Tight End by trade, originally came to the Raiders after playing with the Eagles for a season, then five years with the Bengals. Signed to a two-year deal, Stewart managed to hang around for a single year contract in 2009, but now finds himself unemployed.

Part of this is due to one player who has cemented himself into the Raider Nation as a great: Zach Miller. While Stewart's skills are nothing to be ashamed of, Brandon Myers started to move up the ladder, as the younger option.

Once the special teams skills were narrowed down, Stewart's last link to the Raiders was gone. Again, an injury might return him to Oakland, or the option appears for him to return to the Bengals.

Eric Butler: TE

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Eric Butler has had a hard time since joining the NFL in 2008. First he signed with the Giants as an undrafted Free Agent, cut, and joined the Colts as a Practice Squad player.

Then for 2009, the St Louis Rams picked him up, released him and resigned him to the practice squad in November to finish out last season.

Butler was brought in on short notice, taking the roster spot of Charlie Frye who is out for the year with an injury, he was biding his time, hoping to put in enough work for another club to take a look.

Doubtful, but maybe.

Chane Moline: FB

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Fullback Chane Moline was in camp in an effort to make the club in that position, but was up against Marcel Reece, Manase Tonga and Luke Lawton. With Lawton out to start the season, Moline might come back into the roster from the practice squad, it also depends on injuries to the Fullback position... the last few years have seen injury here that has crippled the team at times.

Moline had his times to shine in the preseason, acting as a running back, but given Jason Campbell and Kyle Boller's use of Marcel Reece, Chane became the odd man out.

Allen Smith: G

Allen Smith was a Stanford product, before coming to the pros for 2010. Unfortunately, things didn't quite turn out as he had hoped, as the Raiders were already packing several guards, ranging from Robert Gallery to Bruce Campbell. As in Butler's case, the Raiders already had depth here; unless another team picks Smith up, he might slide down to a practice squad roster slot, or drop out of football entirely. In this rough and tumble world of football, anything is possible.

Paul Hubbard: WR

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Paul Hubbard, if anything might be the case of not used, not sure. Picked up as a free agent, Paul was drafted originally by the Cleveland Browns but never had a catch for the team. As such, given the issues with our current WR corps, some think he might has just been a set of hands to keep the QBs busy, with no real chance to make the club.

As he did not play in any of the three preseason games, it was unlikely that he would make the final 53. It is also unlikely that he will even land with another club when the season starts.

Preview For The Next Round of Cuts?

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Looking at the remaining 75 players, the Raiders will have to remove 22 more names to meet the 53 player roster. Some names are pretty much certain to make the team, like Jason Campbell, Darren McFadden, Sebastian Janikowski or Shane Lechler.

Others, like Johnnie Lee Higgins, Khalif Barnes, Brandon Rodd, Todd Watkins(pictured above), and Michael Bennett are hoping that Thursday's game will give them a play or two to move up in the roster... or for a dark thought, an injury to keep them active on the 53 man field.

It will be interesting, but more will be known after Thursday's game. Enjoy the show!