The Las Vegas Raiders are continuing to tinker with their roster during rookie minicamp. Fringe veterans are on notice right now, as the team looks to keep getting younger.
Wide receiver Justin Shorter has been with the team since 2024, but he hasn’t caught a pass during an NFL game. It appears that his roster spot is hanging on by a thread. The Raiders announced that Shorter has been placed on the Reserve/Injured list.
This early in the offseason, it’s not a great sign for Shorter to be sent to the Reserve/Injured list. What could come next is the two sides agreeing to a buyout that allows him to go back to free agency.
With so many young wide receivers coming in, it’s hard to see Shorter returning to the roster even if he is healthy. The Raiders also announced that they’ve signed former Indiana wide receiver Jonathan Brady to replace him.
It’s unclear what kind of injury Shorter is dealing with. If it’s serious, he could stick around with the Raiders for a while and continue to rehab. If it’s nothing too bad, he could go and test free agency to see if he has a better chance at making a different roster.
State of Raiders’ WR Room
The Raiders are very much embracing youth at wide receiver this offseason. It was considered a big need for the team, but they didn’t do much to address it outside of signing Jalen Nailor and drafting Malik Benson in the sixth round.
Vincent Bonsignore of the California Post could see the Raiders continuing to add to the room if the players already on the roster aren’t stepping up.
“In a mild draft surprise, the Raiders didn’t address wide receiver until the sixth round when they selected Benson,” Bonsignore wrote. “They had a few receivers on their radar but chose to select players at bigger needs throughout the early parts of the draft. It opens an opportunity during the offseason for Bech and Thornton Jr. to prove this room doesn’t need any additions. But the Raiders won’t hesitate to make a move if they have any uncertainty after assessing the situation.”
Raiders Passing Game Should Be Greatly Improved
The good news for the Raiders is that there’s no way their passing game could be much worse in 2026. The team was bottom five in passing last season. They’ve upgraded at playcaller with Klint Kubiak, and Fernando Mendoza should be better than Geno Smith when he hits the field.
Even if Kirk Cousins starts the season, he should be an upgrade over Smith. The Raiders also added star center Tyler Linderbaum to the offensive line. His presence alone should help the passing game.
The Raiders will likely need to address the wide receiver need early in next year’s draft, but for now, the group should be serviceable enough. It is a surprise that they didn’t do more this offseason with a rookie quarterback coming in, but perhaps that’s because they don’t expect him to start this season.
Raiders Lose Veteran WR to Injury, Sign Replacement