Ex-CFL WR May Have Stolen Raiders Roster Spot

Getty Las Vegas Raiders WR Tyreik McAllister.

The Las Vegas Raiders finished up the preseason with a 24-24 tie against the San Francisco 49ers and one player may have done enough to earn a roster spot. Tyreik McAllister has impressed the team all offseason with his speed and he had a huge performance against the 49ers.

He returned a punt for a touchdown while also catching a touchdown. He proved that he could make an impact on special teams and offense. McAllister was a longshot to make the roster heading into training camp but the retirement of Michael Gallup opened a spot at wide receiver. The Athletic’s Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed are now projecting McAllister to make the roster.

“We initially had Wilkerson making the roster, but then McAllister broke a punt return for a touchdown and caught another one Friday night,” Reed and Tafur wrote in an August 23 column. His performance could make the Raiders hesitant to expose him to getting poached by another team. It’s more likely they’ll sign Wilkerson back to the practice squad. And if McAllister’s on the team, he was their most productive return man on kickoffs and punts in the preseason and should be able to handle both duties.”

McAllister first came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent of the Denver Broncos in 2022. He wasn’t able to get on the field so he had to go play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. If the Raiders keep him on the active roster, he’ll almost certainly play his first NFL game this season and could have a key role in the return game.

Antonio Pierce Impressed With Tyreik McAllister

If McAllister were to make the roster, it’d likely be the biggest rise of any other player on the team. He was expected to be on the outside looking in but now the Raiders can’t ignore him. He certainly had head coach Antonio Pierce’s attention.

“He’s got some juice, right?” Pierce said during his August 23 press conference. “He came from the CFL, played running back, never really played wide receiver. You can see that transition in the offseason program. I thought he did a hell of a job in training camp. Just quietly … We’ve been seeing it in practice, but today he took it to another level. Took one to the crib. Hell of a catch and adjustment on the reception. Even just covering kicks. He moved the needle tonight.”

Impressing Pierce is a great way to steal a roster spot and it’s looking like McAllister has done enough to earn a chance.

Antonio Pierce Talks Roster Cut Day

This will be the first time Pierce has to oversee a roster cut day at the NFL so he’s going to have some tough calls to make. He’ll be working closely with general manager Tom Telesco on trimming down the roster to 53.

“Yeah, me and Tom [Telesco] are going to sit there and pound some tape away, and brainstorm and put some names up there and just look at it,” Pierce said. “It’s tough. It’s not easy cutting 37 men and tell them they got to find somewhere else to play or whatever it may be. Nature of the beast, and we’ll evaluate over the next 48 hours.”