The Oakland Raiders continue to shape their roster heading into Week 1 of the 2019 NFL season, bringing back two quality defenders on Monday.
Even after trimming the roster down to 53 players on Saturday, the Oakland Raiders transactions continue. The team re-signed defensive end Josh Mauro and linebacker Kyle Wilber, and subsequently placed cornerback Isaiah Johnson and quarterback Nathan Peterman on Injured Reserve.
These roster moves have an interesting impact on the team to start the season.
Nathan Peterman out, Josh Mauro in
If claiming quarterback DeShone Kizer off waivers wasn’t a big enough surprise, cutting the defensive end who is listed as the team’s starter might have been an even bigger shock. However, the Raiders are not going to keep four quarterbacks and Peterman is put on the self for 2019. Mixing up the third string quarterback doesn’t significantly impact the team this year, but Peterman and Kizer could end up battling it out for the backup quarterback spot in 2020.
Releasing Mauro was a head-scratcher in the moment, but all has gone according to plan and he was a free agent for about 24 hours. The veteran defensive lineman projects to be a starter heading into Week 1 and should provide run support along the defensive front.
Oakland certainly could use Mauro’s presence next Monday when the Broncos roll into town with two young talented running backs: Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman.
Isaiah Johnson out, Kyle Wilber in
After suffering a concussion and facial injury in the first preseason game, Johnson’s rookie season is pretty much over before it really got started. The young cornerback could be one of the two players selected to return from IR, but the Raiders have depth at the position so the team might not need his services. As a fourth-round pick Johnson is a project and hopefully this doesn’t hinder his development.
On Saturday Oakland released it’s 53-man roster and only included four linebackers. The team added linebacker Wilber today, but this move probably won’t impact defensive coordinator Paul Guenther’s gameplan much, if at all.
The seven year veteran is more of a special teams player and an emergency linebacker, so expect the Raiders defense to primarily use the four linebackers listed on Saturday’s edit of the roster.