Getty Former Raiders DB Johnathan Abram.
The Las Vegas Raiders are looking to shake things up at this point in the season. One of the biggest moves they made this week was the decision to cut former first-round pick Johnathan Abram. The starting safety was seeing his snap count decline in recent weeks and it was obvious he didn’t have a future with the team.
Abram was able to quickly land on his feet as the Green Bay Packers claimed him off waivers. He now gets to reunite with former Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia. It should be a much better fit for him and he won’t have the pressure that comes with being a first-round pick. Though his stint in Las Vegas wasn’t as successful as many hoped, he still holds a lot of love for the team. He sent a message to the Raiders after he was claimed by the Packers and said he thought he’d “be a Raider forever.”
Things didn’t work out for him in Las Vegas but the Packers could be a better fit for him. Bisaccia believes in him and he’ll likely be a key special teams player for them for the rest of the season.
McDaniels Explains Decision to Cut Abram
The timing of the decision to cut Abram was odd. With the rest of his contract guaranteed, the Raiders must have known he’d be claimed. He’s the second former first-round pick that head coach Josh McDaniels has cut this year with Alex Leatherwood getting the axe before the season started. The new regime clearly wants to move on from players acquired from the previous regime that don’t fit the new systems. McDaniels addressed the Abram news and explained why he thought it was time to make the move.
“His role was changing a little bit as we were going through the season,” McDaniels said Wednesday. “Tre’von [Moehrig] was playing more and we brought Isaiah [Pola-Mao] now up to the roster as another young player. Those aren’t easy decisions. John’s done a lot for this organization obviously and wish him well. But just thought that this was the right time.”
Abram Had Bad Attitude as of Late?
While Abram clearly wasn’t a fit in this defense, the decision to cut him could’ve had more to it. According to Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he had noticed that the safety was starting to become somewhat toxic as the losses started to mount.
“People around the team kind of see that Johnathan Abram is not the most welcoming person in the locker room, let’s say,” Hill said this week on 920 AM Raider Nation Radio’s “Unnecessary Roughness,” via Raiders Beat. “As the losing built up, maybe some of his ‘antics’ isn’t the right word, but some of his attitude in the locker room may not have rubbed everybody the right way in the organization when the losses were building up. If you’re not playing well on the field, a lot of that stuff isn’t as tolerated.”
Abram plays with a ton of passion so losing likely doesn’t sit well with him. Couple that with the fact that he started to lose snaps and it was a recipe for a toxic situation.