Getty New Las Vegas Raiders WR Marquez Callaway.
The Las Vegas Raiders love wide receivers. They kept six on the active roster and are set to have another three on the practice squad.
According to an August 30 post on Twitter/X by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Raiders are signing former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marquez Callaway to the practice squad.
Free agent receiver Marquez Callaway will be signing with the #Raiders practice squad, per source. Waived by Denver this week, Callaway had 1,069 yards and seven touchdowns with the New Orleans since 2020.
Callaway joins wide receivers Devin Ross and Antoine Wesley on the practice squad. However, he should have a bit of a leg up on them. He’s been in the NFL since 2020 when he was an undrafted free agent of the Saints. He spent three years with the team and was their leading receiver in 2021 with 698 yards.
He hasn’t replicated that success in subsequent years as he only had 158 receiving yards last season. Callaway signed with the Denver Broncos in free agency but wasn’t able to break through and make their active roster. The Raiders have plenty of wide receiver talent on the active roster but having a veteran like Callaway on the practice squad gives them some good depth in case of injury, especially with Phillip Dorsett heading to Denver.
Josh McDaniels Talks Kristian Wilkerson Making Roster
One of the big surprises of training camp was Kristian Wilkerson. The veteran wide receiver didn’t play last season due to injury but was able to land with the Raiders this offseason. He has previously worked with Josh McDaniels on the New England Patriots in 2020 and 2021 but had to beat out veterans like Keelan Cole and Phillip Dorsett.
He was able to make it happen and is now on the active roster. McDaniels praised Wilkerson for the work he has put in this offseason.
“K-Wilks [Kristian Wilkerson] worked really hard since I’ve known him,” McDaniels said during his August 30 media availability. “He had an injury last year, it was kind of an unfortunate situation, and in training camp last year, where he kind of didn’t really have an opportunity to have a season last year. So, I think he’s worked really hard to put himself in position to compete this year in camp, and I thought he did some good things in the summer. I thought he did some good things in the games, competed hard, and not only on offense, but in the kicking game as well.”
The Raiders have a deep wide receiver room, which made things a lot more difficult for the team’s decision-makers.
“That room was very competitive,” McDaniels said. “It was probably one of the more competitive rooms we’ve had in the two years we’ve been here – tough decisions, and just felt like he had done enough to really earn an opportunity.”
Josh McDaniels Explains Decision to Keep 3 QBs
Last season, the Raiders only kept Derek Carr and Jarrett Stidham as the quarterbacks on the active roster to start the year. This season, the team is keeping three between Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O’Connell and Brian Hoyer. Josh McDaniels explained what went into that decision.
“No, I mean not really. It was to go with three, and not for any specific reason other than we felt like we had three guys that were capable of being roster players,” McDaniels said. “Aidan [O’Connell] has obviously got a lot of developing in front of him, Brian has played plenty of football, and obviously we’re excited about Jimmy [Garoppolo]. So, feel like we’ve got a good room.”
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Raiders Sign Former Saints Leading WR to Contract