Getty Las Vegas Raiders GM Tom Telesco.
The Las Vegas Raiders were thrown a curveball at the start of training camp with the news that wide receiver Michael Gallup has decided to retire from the NFL. He was expected to compete for the No. 3 wide receiver position so losing him is a bit of a blow.
The Raiders weren’t expecting this decision to come, according to general manager Tom Telesco.
“I didn’t see that one coming at all,” Telesco said, per a July 25 X post from Tashan Reed of The Athletic. “That just kind of came up out of the blue. When I talked to him, it seemed like he had a pretty clear vision. He’s ready to move on. It’s too bad.”
It sounds like Gallup’s retirement somewhat blindsided the team. They may have had big plans for him this season. Behind Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers, the Raiders are very inexperienced at wide receiver and Gallup was one of their most veteran players.
Tom Telesco Talks Keelan Doss Signing
The Raiders were quick to replace Gallup following the news of his retirement by signing Keelan Doss. He spent the last two years with Telesco and the Los Angeles Chargers but was previously on the Raiders in 2019 and 2020.
Telesco was eager to replace Gallup and Doss was a logical player to target.
“He’s kind of a younger veteran,” Telesco said, per a July 25 X post from ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “But yeah, I want to make sure we got somebody else in here because, like I said, we weren’t expecting the Gallup thing that just happened.”
Doss only has 17 catches in his career so the Raiders could eventually look to add another wide receiver with more experience. Michael Thomas or Hunter Renfrow could be interesting players to add if Doss isn’t bringing them the production they’re hoping for.
Tom Telesco Expects Starters to Play in Preseason
The Raiders are one of only two teams in the NFL this year that isn’t going to do a joint practice. The team has done joint practices in each of the last several seasons so this will represent a big change. Telesco gave some insight as to why they weren’t able to schedule a practice.
“It’s just the way it kind of worked out,” Telesco said, per Gutierrez. “They’re not easy to schedule all the time, just based on who you can and can’t practice with. Obviously, we’re not going to go practice with the Chargers, in the division and then who you play in the preseason, but that’s kind the way it worked out.”
With the lack of joint practices, there’s going to be added importance in the preseason.
“If you’re not going to practice with somebody, yeah, you’re going to be playing your guys a little bit more in the preseason,” Telesco said, per Reed. “And, obviously, we’ve got two quarterbacks that need to play in the preseason. If they’re going play, you got to put some people around them.”
Many teams don’t play starters in the preseason but since the Raiders won’t have a joint practice, the preseason games will be valuable, especially considering the team’s current quarterback competition.