Raiders' Potential Trade, Cut Candidates After 2023 NFL Draft
The Las Vegas Raiders have spent much of the offseason adding players.
In general manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels' second year, they went to work to overturn a roster that went 6-11 last season. It started with signing 24 free agents, including 17 from outside the organization.
They also added nine players through the draft.
It's an influx of talent designed to mold the team to Ziegler's liking. But eventually, they will have to cut this roster down.
With all the new additions, there's a lot of work to be done to pare down to the final 53 players who will enter the 2023 season.
That means plenty of players will need to either be traded or released. Based on financial ramifications, talent and positional depth, here are three candidates to either be traded or released.
All contract and salary cap information via Spotrac unless otherwise noted.
CB Amik Robertson
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In a lot of ways, Amik Robertson was the only bright spot in the cornerback group last season. But Las Vegas has done so much work to overhaul the group that he might be expendable.
Robertson was the only corner on the roster to register an interception. The Raiders as a team had just six, and the 24-year-old had two of them. He also held opposing quarterbacks to a 60.9 percent completion rate when targeted.
However, the competition around Robertson has changed. Vegas signed Duke Shelley, David Long Jr. and Brandon Facyson in free agency. It also drafted Jakorian Bennett, giving it four new players at the position who could compete for playing time.
Virtually none of Robertson's $1.1 million salary is guaranteed, so he could be traded or released with little cost to the team.
It's never a bad idea to have depth at cornerback, and Robertson's play last year should ensure he isn't released. But the Raiders also have 10 corners under contract, so if they are comfortable with someone lower on the depth chart such as Bennett or Sam Webb, then Robertson should become a trade chip.
RB Josh Jacobs
2 of 3
The Raiders ensured they had control of Josh Jacobs' playing future for one year when they extended the franchise tag to the star running back.
Jacobs' contract saga isn't over yet, though. The sides have until July 15 to come to a long-term agreement, and the Alabama product hasn't signed the tag, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
He's obviously not going to be cut, and McDaniels made it sound like the team wants to keep him on the roster in the long term.
"We feel strongly about him as a player and as a person and, hopefully, for us, we can get something done long-term," he told Vic Tafur of The Athletic. "We didn't franchise-tag him just to franchise-tag; we did it to give us an opportunity to have a longer time to work through this."
Things can change quickly with the high stakes of contract negotiations. Jacobs is coming off a career year in which he recorded 2,053 yards from scrimmage and 12 touchdowns.
However, he would immediately become the top running back available for trade if the Raiders put him on the market. While Dalvin Cook, Saquon Barkley and Austin Ekeler also make sense as trade targets, Jacobs is a year-plus younger than all of them and has a relatively clean injury history.
Las Vegas has a young back in Zamir White who could take on a bigger role with Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah able to help as pass-catching backs. With players such as Kareem Hunt and Ezekiel Elliott available, the Raiders could cobble together a backfield if they got a good offer for Jacobs.
WR DeAndre Carter
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The Raiders just signed DeAndre Carter in free agency, but his one-year, $1.5 million deal isn't enough to guarantee a roster spot.
The 5'8", 188-pound Carter forced his way into the Los Angeles Chargers' lineup last year and produced 46 receptions for 538 yards and three touchdowns.
The Sacramento State product did most of his damage from the slot. According to Player Profiler, he had the 11th-most slot snaps in the league and played there 54.3 percent of the time.
That inside receiver position is awfully crowded on the Raiders roster. Hunter Renfrow takes most of his snaps there, as does Jakobi Meyers, who is coming over from the New England Patriots.
The result is a logjam that could lead to Carter's getting cut before he ever takes a snap in the Silver and Black. Last season, the Raiders carried only five receivers on their initial 53-man roster.
It's safe to say that Renfrow, Meyers and Davante Adams will take up the first three slots. That leaves Carter, Keelan Cole Sr., Phillip Dorsett, Tre Tucker and Cam Sims, among others, to compete for two roster spots.
Carter's experience as a kick and punt returner could give him an edge, but his overlap in skills with Renfrow and Meyers makes him redundant as a receiver.
He could be the odd man out.
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