Getty New Las Vegas Raiders CB Thomas Harper.
The Las Vegas Raiders just spent recent days cutting down the roster to 53 players and now that they’ve satisfied the NFL’s roster rules, they can get back to adding players. Hundreds of players around the league just became available and the Raiders were able to find a couple with value.
According to the August 28 waiver wire, Las Vegas claimed former Los Angeles Chargers defensive back Thomas Harper and former Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Jonah Laulu.
Today’s post-cut down waiver claims
Harper was an undrafted rookie free agent signing out of Notre Dame this offseason and looked promising during the preseason. He was the Chargers’ ninth-best defender in the preseason, according to Pro Football Focus. Los Angeles was actually planning on bringing him back on the practice squad, per an August 28 X post from KPRC 2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson.
The Raiders were able to snag him before the Chargers had a chance to bring him back. Considering his former team valued him, he’s an interesting player for Las Vegas to pick up. He wasn’t much of a ball hawk in college as he had just two interceptions in five years but he did have 6.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks during his final year in college.
Las Vegas Raiders Also Add Jonah Laulu
Laulu, the other player the Raiders added off waivers, was a seventh-round pick of the Colts in this years draft. Similar to Harper, the Colts were intending to sign him to the practice squad, per an August 28 X post from Justin Melo of The Draft Network.
Indianapolis took a risk by letting Laulu hit waivers as a recent draft pick and it didn’t pay off. Laulu could quickly become a fan favorite for the Raiders. He was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, but played college football in Hawaii and Oklahoma. This will be a homecoming for the ahtletic defnesive lineman.
In his draft profile of Laulu, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein praised the defensive tackle’s athletcism but is concerned with his lack of size.
“Interior defender with below-average mass but outstanding athletic traits,” Zierlein wrote. “With loose and explosive hips, Laulu has rare fluidity and closing burst to the football. He springs into blockers off the snap and has the ability to become a more disruptive run defender, but he lacks ideal instincts and diagnosis quickness. Laulu’s rush production is nothing special, but it is easy to see the ingredients are all on the table if a team can help craft his hands and counters. Laulu’s potential and traits will make him a coveted addition as a late pick or priority free agent.”
At just 289 pounds, Laulu could get pushed around early on in his career until he’s able to add on weight, but his atheltic ability makes him an appealing project.
No Las Vegas Raiders Players Were Claimed
While the Raiders were able to poach a couple of players teams were hoping to keep, they were forutnate enough to not have a single roster cut claimed by another team. That means many of the players Las Vegas cut will likely be added to the practice squad in the near future.
Any player the Raiders liked but didn’t think was good enough quite yet to earn an active roster spot is now free to come back if there’s mutual interest.
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Raiders Snag Promising Ex-Chargers DB & Athletic Ex-Colts DT off Waivers