Silver And Black Pride
All eyes are on the starting spots for Pete Carroll’s football team — and rightfully.
In the inaugural season under their veteran head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders are grinding through the comPETE-phase of the offseason with the intent of not only putting on a good showing in the regular-season opening trip to face the New England Patriots, but to win the ball game.
To get to Week 1, the Silver & Black — along with the other 31 teams — embark on roster cuts. The drastic trim from the offseason 90-man group to the 53-man mandated roster prior to the NFL’s 4 p.m. (1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time) deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 26.
But cuts will be the first in likely a wave of maneuvers for the Raiders (and other NFL squads, for that matter). Teams tend to have tough decisions ahead but Las Vegas embracing the compete for everything mantra that Carroll’s established means the fight for roster spots is fierce.
“I don’t think there’s a single position group like that. I think the whole roster is, it’s really competitive right now. So I think every position for those last couple of spots, there’s a lot of competition for it, and we kind of take the opportunity to evaluate every exposure,” Raiders assistant general manager Brian Stark said when asked if there’s’ a position group that might have the biggest challenge in terms of decisions. “So every practice, every game that we have from now until cut down day, is important for us. We want to see and provide as many opportunities for each of those players to compete as we can. So it’s hard to single out one position group, but I can tell you that the competition for those roster spots on the back end there, it’s going to go right down to the wire.”
The following day, Wednesday, Aug. 27, teams can make waiver claims for the group waxed in roster reductions up until Noon (or 9 a.m. PST). That’s also the day Las Vegas and others can establish its 17-man practice squad to bolster rosters.
But the moves don’t end there.
Expect the Raiders — a team building a foundation not only under Carroll, but general manager John Spytek — to make a flurry of moves before or even up until Week 1 to field as competitive a roster they can not only in the opener, but for the duration of the 2025 campaign.
That all said, the easiest way to make an NFL roster remains the same: Special teams.
There are some marquee spots up for grabs in that regard, namely kick and punt returner. The Raiders final preseason depth chart listed wide receiver Tre Tucker as the top option for both gigs. Behind him on kick returns were: Running back Sincere McCormick, Dylan Laube, and wide receiver Tommy Mellot. In punt return duties, running back Ashton Jeanty was listed behind Tucker followed by wide receiver Alex Bachman, and Mellot.
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