Oakland Raiders fourth in waiver claim order can lead to aggressive acquisitions
The preseason has finally came and gone. Now, teams will construct their final 53-man roster in preparation for week one of the regular season.
The configuration of roster cuts is much different from how it was designed years ago. In the past there used to be a few mandatory cut downs throughout the month of August. Now, the league has adjusted the cutting process to just one final cut after the last preseason game where all teams will go from their initial 90-man roster to 53.
As of August 31st, 1,184 players will be released from their team as a causality from roster cuts. Although, some of those players will be given the opportunity to be placed on a practice squad. Also, one team’s trash in another mans treasure, just because one team doesn’t keep a player around doesn’t mean he won’t make another NFL roster somewhere else.
The waiver claiming process is starting to heat up and here’s how it works. Players who have accumulated four or more years of experience in the league automatically become free-agents once they’re released. Whereas players who are just getting adapted to the NFL such as most guys on rookie contracts, they’ll be subject to being placed on waivers before they can become a free-agent.
During training camp and the preseason it’s essential for all teams to not just evaluate their own, but to take a significant look around the league of who might become available. Through the first four weeks of the season, the waiver order goes off of last year’s draft order. So with the Raiders are fourth in line to claim guys off waivers, giving them a huge opportunity to improve their roster.
The Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets are the only teams that will have priority over the Raiders in the claiming order.
This could be an opportunity for Oakland to bolster their interior offensive line with Gabe Jackson starting the season injured and Richie Incognito serving his suspension for the first two weeks. Their defensive end position is another area where they might look to claim someone if they can find an upgrade in production as their edge rushers still appear to be the biggest whole on the current roster.
Having such a highly intelligent mind like Mike Mayock in the building, who evaluates talent with the best of them, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he snags some players during the early stages of waiver claiming.
Next. Oakland Raiders fall in preseason finale, 17-15 to Seattle. dark
With roster cuts taking place right now, there will be a large abundance of players available to place a waiver on over the next few days.