Getty Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels.
The Las Vegas Raiders had some tough roster cuts but were able to keep many of the players they wanted on the practice squad. The one that got away was undrafted rookie linebacker Drake Thomas.
After the Raiders waived Thomas, he was claimed by the Seattle Seahawks, which means he’ll be part of their active roster to start the season. Head coach Josh McDaniels didn’t appear too thrilled with losing the promising young linebacker.
“The odds are technically in your favor until they’re not,” McDaniels said of losing Thomas during his August 30 media availability. “He was a great kid. He gave us everything he had. … He was competitive in the kicking game, competitive on defense. It’s one of those things where you try to create the right 53 and, sometimes, you’re going to miss out on a guy here if you want to keep working with them on the practice squad. I wish him nothing but the best. He’ll do a great job there. They got a good football player.”
Thomas made 22 total tackles in three preseason games and led the defense in two of the games. Though the Raiders didn’t play the Seahawks in preseason, he was clearly on their radar for them to give him an active roster spot. Seattle has a great eye for evaluating young talent so Las Vegas may have dropped the ball by letting him hit waivers.
Las Vegas Raiders Able to Retain Matthew Butler
The Raiders made a surprise move when they traded 2022 fourth-round pick Neil Farrell Jr. to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a testament to how well the other defensive tackles have played this offseason. The team also let go of 2022 fifth-round pick Matthew Butler, who only played six games as a rookie. Luckily, he was able to clear waivers and the Raiders brought him back on the practice squad.
Josh McDaniels is happy to get the chance to keep working with Butler to see if there’s still some potential for him to be a productive NFL player.
“We released him but also have a chance to continue working with him, which is great,” McDaniels said. “We’ve just got to hold ourselves to that standard of whatever’s best for the team. Those are the decisions we want to try to make regardless of how they got here.”
Nesta Jade Silvera the Surprise of Training Camp
Nesta Jade Silvera was the Raiders’ seventh-round pick this year out of Arizona State and he took advantage of every opportunity he could get. He impressed coaches with his toughness and sheer will to succeed. Not many would’ve expected him to make the active roster in Week 1 but he beat out a lot of players to make it happen.
Jade Silvera could be the Raiders’ latest late-round pick to play above his draft position. He certainly already has the respect of star defensive end Maxx Crosby, which certainly counts for a lot.
Nesta [Jade Silvera] is a dog,” Crosby said during his August 10 media availability. “He’s getting after it, I love it. Since the first day he came in, he had the attitude, you can just tell like he’s hungry. And he’s just getting better and better. When you’re a young guy — I told literally all the rookies when they came in — technique is one thing, but you can’t coach effort, you can’t coach attitude, you can’t coach the little things, the little things you see on film: the flying to the ball, the heart, all those little things. And Nesta’s one of those guys you can see it clear as day.”