NFL rosters must be cut down from 90 players to 80 players by Tuesday afternoon. In previous years, teams were required to drop the roster to 75 at this point, but after the lockout, the number was moved to 80.
As the Raiders prepare for the first round of cuts, fans in the Raider Nation will not likely be surprised by anyone. As I began to look at the list and try to read the unreadable mind of Al Davis, I realized that it shouldn’t be too hard. I soon realized that there are more than ten names on the list that even the die hard Raiders fan would not recognize.
Thus, I put together a list of fifteen players who are highly likely to be cut by Tuesday afternoon:
Bryson Kelly (FB)
James McCluskey (FB)
Damola Adeniji (WR)
Shawn Bayes (WR)
Steve Goulet (WR)
Eddie McGee (WR)
Brock, Kevin (TE)
Eliades, Lou (T)
Wand, Seth (T)
Lamaak, Ben (OL)
Hill, Derrick (DT)
Francis, Chris (LB)
Hill, Tommie (DE)
Kelly, Bryson (RB)
Pakulak, Glenn (P)
None of those names will really excite or surprise anyone, so to avoid this post being too boring, I prepared a smaller list of notable names that I would not be surprised to see cut by Tuesday.
Louis Rankin
Michael Bennett
Nick Miller
Walter McFadden
Michael Bennett and Louis Rankin are both looking at not making the team. With the addition of Taiwan Jones, the Raiders now have three runningbacks who will be competing for playing time. The other notable runningback, Rock Cartwright is far too valuable on special teams to be in the same position as these two.
Wide receiver Nick Miller also finds himself on the bubble as the result of incoming rookie phenom Denarius Moore and veteran Derek Hagan having great preseasons. He also did not help his case on Sunday when he muffed the opening kick off out of bounds at the nine yard line.
Finally, second year player Walter McFadden has had a horrendous preseason and could find himself on the bubble. While the Raiders are thin at the cornerback position, with the signing of Lito Sheppard, the Raiders have a large number of cornerbacks on the roster, even if not many of them are ready to play.