Silver And Black Pride
NFL “cut day”, or better known as the day after preseason ends, is on Tuesday August 26th at 1 PM PT.
The Las Vegas Raiders, along with the rest of the NFL, will have to trim their rosters down to 53 by that time and for everyone that is cut, they’ll end up on the NFL’s wavier wire. The wavier is simply like fantasy football, it’s an order from 1 (Titans) to 32 (Eagles), and is an exact replica of the NFL’s draft order, without trades. The Raiders will pick 6th in this years initial waiver wire order, and thus are likely to have a strong chance at landing someone on the wire they like. Last season, the Raiders claimed IDL Jonah Laulu, a 7th round pick by the Colts, who went on to have a rather strong season posting 35 tackles, three for loss, a sack, and three breakups while also adding two hits, 9 pressures, and starting 7 of his 17 games played. Laulu played in just under 500 snaps and the 6’5/290 DL looks to have a big role in 2026. Additionally, the team added safety Thomas Harper from the Chargers who started five games posting 26 tackles, an interception and two breakups while logging 191 snaps and 265 snaps on special teams. Harper is currently pushing for the final safety spot.
All that said, it’s not uncommon for a team to find a strong depth piece, or even a quality starter on the waiver wire during cut downs. Teams often use this day as a way to really solidify the bottom of their roster and move on from players that they think can be upgraded off of. The Raiders have needs in a few key positions and the waiver order may help them immensely:
I had this article finished and all ready to go, then the Cardinals game happened and that was something. Prospective backup QB Aidan O’Connell fractured his wrist on a strip sack and will be out till likely midseason if not longer and rookie Cam Miller finished the day with a 50% completion rate on 24 attempts. The Raiders didn’t have a backup QB battle, then O’Connell created an opening with his performance in weeks 1-2, Cam Miller took advantage of that in week one before having two very below average games in weeks 2-3. Needless to say, the Raiders need a backup QB. If a team is playing their backup QB routinely, it doesn’t bode well for the team in general (yes I know Nick Foles exists), but the Raiders are hoping that isn’t the case and if they need a backup QB it’s simply for small snap instances. Cam Miller likely will be waived and land on the practice squad, Aidan O’Connell is heading for the IR and that leaves…… nobody at QB behind Geno Smith, well there’s Tommy Mellott and Jakobi Meyers sorta. Regardless, Las Vegas will have to add a QB to fill that role for...
