The Las Vegas Raiders welcomed plenty of change this offseason when they hired Pete Carroll and John Spytek to run the show. Given these two men's winning pedigrees in the NFL, it was unlikely that the Raiders were going to keep too many players from last year's four-win team.
This turned out to be the case throughout the offseason, as free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft brought tons of personnel turnover. The new regime kept tinkering with the roster throughout OTAs and training camp, making trades or transactions seemingly every week.
Given all the moving pieces in Las Vegas and the team's lack of drafting success in recent years, Carroll and Spytek could easily prioritize their new additions when making roster cuts. So, these three recent draft picks could be on the outside looking in when the Raiders announce their 53-man team.
Several recent Raiders draft picks could be on the chopping block after preseason
1. Thayer Munford Jr., OT
Las Vegas' starting tackles are locked in, and the new leadership drafted promising young swing tackle Charles Grant in the third round of this year's draft. Munford has not played well in the preseason, with a Pro Football Focus grade of 44.1 and a penalty.
Munford has starting experience and has served in a valuable role for the Raiders over the last few years, but he seems to be losing traction ahead of the 2025 season. Unless a team trades a seventh-rounder for him, which is unlikely, he could easily be cut in favor of a Carroll and Spytek-picked player.
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2. Trey Taylor, S
Taylor is a talented safety whose physical profile would indicate that Carroll would like him. However, when the team brought in new safeties this offseason, they all leapfrogged him despite Taylor being in his second season under Patrick Graham and winning a major award during his final year in college.
Through two preseason games, Taylor has recorded an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 37.8, and he missed a tackle against the Seattle Seahawks. What he has going for him is that he can line up all over the field on defense, and he can play special teams, but he still has an immense uphill battle.
3. Zamir White or Dylan Laube, RB
This is a tricky equation because it is hard to envision a scenario where both of these former draft picks make the roster. It would require the team to cut Sincere McCormick, which seems careless, but could happen depending on how much of a leash Carroll wants to give to White.
Laube is far more dynamic as a pass-catcher, and he can play every facet of special teams, so he may provide more value as a depth running back behind Ashton Jeanty and Raheem Mostert. However, White is more experienced and has been praised by Carroll, so this may come down to the wire.