The Oakland Raiders are getting closer to reaching their 53-man limit. Teams have until 6 p.m. Saturday to trim down from 75 players to the league maximum 53. The team announced today 21 cuts which brings the roster down to 54. Head coach Tom Cable has indicated that they are deliberating on the final cut presently. The cuts thus far are as follows:
QB Colt Brennan
FB Luke Lawton
FB Manase Tonga
WR Todd Watkins
WR Shaun Bodiford
TE John Owens
C Chris Morris
OG Alex Parsons
OG Brandon Rodd
DE Alex Daniels
DE Jay Richardson
DT Kellen Heard
DT William Joseph
DT Chris Cooper
LB Slade Norris
LB Joe Porter
LB David Nixon
CB Joey Thomas
S Jerome Boyd
P Swayze Waters
This makes the 54-man roster look like this at the moment:
Quarterbacks (3) Jason Campbell, Bruce Gradkowski, Kyle Boller
Running Backs (5) Michael Bush, Darren McFadden, Rock Cartwright, Michael Bennett, Marcel Reece
Tight Ends (2) Zach Miller, Brandon Myers
Wide Recievers (7) Darrius Heyward-Bey, Louis Murphy, Chaz Schilens, Jacoby Ford, Yamon Figurs, Johnnie Lee Higgins, Nick Miller
Offensive Line (10) Mario Henderson, Robert Gallery, Jared Veldheer, Cooper Carlisle, Langston Walker, Bruce Campbell, Samson Satele, Khalif Barnes, Erik Pears, Daniel Loper
Defensive Line (7) Matt Shaughnessy, Tommy Kelly, Richard Seymour, LaMarr Houston, Desmond Bryant, John Henderson, Trevor Scott
Linebackers (7) Kamerion Wimbley, Rolando McClain, Ricky Brown, Thomas Howard, Quinton Groves, Sam Williams, Travis Goethel
Defensive Backs (10) Nnamdi Asomugha, Chris Johnson, Stanford Routt, Tyvon Branch, Michael Huff, Mike Mitchell, Stevie Brown, Jeremy Ware, Hiram Eugene, Walter McFadden
Specialists (3) Shane Lechler, Sebastian Janikowski, Jon Condo
They stil have one cut to make, obviously, and beyond that you can probably still expect some more moves as other players are cut around the league. Teams generally keep an eye on every cut made, so the Raiders could find some interest. The surprise cut for Oakland would be Jay Richardson, who will probably be sought after around the league. He looked to play a role this year on the starting defensive line, so it definitely is a surprise.
Bubble players at this point would appear to be defensive back Hiram Eugene, wide receiver Nick Miller and offensive linemen Erik Pears and Daniel Loper. The latter two are most likely if the team is deliberating on the final cut, as two players on the offensive line might draw a fair bit of discussion.