Raiders Sign Ex-Chargers WR & Cut Young LB Due to Failed Physical

The Las Vegas Raiders lost wide receiver Michael Gallup to retirement ahead of training camp and brought in Keelan Doss to potentially replace him. However, the team isn’t done signing wide receivers just yet.

The Raiders announced on July 29 that they’ve signed Terrell Bynum to the roster.

Bynum is a player that general manager Tom Telesco will be familiar with as he was an undrafted free agent signing of the Los Angeles Chargers last year. He didn’t play a game as a rookie so it remains to be seen how much upside he has.

He played college football at Washington and USC where he had 1,093 receiving yards in five years. Telesco may have seen something in Bynum last year while they were both in Los Angeles. He’s most likely a candidate to make the practice squad. His lack of experience will make it difficult to make the active roster but he goes back with Telesco, which will only help his chances.

Darien Butler Failed Physical

To make room for Bynum, the Raiders had to move on from linebacker Darien Butler. He joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and had a role as a rookie. He played 15 games in 2022 but wasn’t able to get on the field last season as he was put on injured reserve before the season started.

The Raiders waived Butler with a failed physical designation so it’s possible that he has still yet to recover. It’s an unfortunate development for a young player who appeared to be capable of carving out a role with the team. It remains to be seen what his recovery timeline could be or if he’ll be walking away from the game.

The team didn’t give specifics so it’s possible he could make his way back to an NFL roster at some point.

Las Vegas Raiders Offensive off to Rocky Start

The early signs in training camp are pointing to the Raiders having a strong defense. However, it’s been a struggle for the offense. The team has a quarterback battle between Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell while also installing a new offense under offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

Despite the rough, Getsy is looking at the bright side.

“All that gives you the confidence to be able to call those types of things and not have this reservation of like, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen?’” Getsy said during his July 29 press conference. “You don’t always want to have the premier look, right? Yes, that’s the ideal for a play caller to have the premier look, but when these guys perform the play when it’s not the premier look, now you’re really cooking.”

One issue could be that the quarterbacks are playing a little tight. Getsy would like to see them let loose a bit.

“You want to be able to take the smart chances,” Getsy said. “But it’s the ones that we’re just throwing out there or we’re just saying we’re hoping, those are the ones you want to eliminate. And I think the guys are doing a really good job. … I think we’re getting a lot more of the calculated risks, and they’re getting more reward for it, too.”

The Raiders can have all the offensive talent in the world but they need the quarterbacks to play well if they hope to score points.