With rookies set to report to training camp on Thursday, July 17, followed by the veterans next Tuesday, July 22, the Las Vegas Raiders have made a roster move. On Monday, the team announced it has waived quarterback Carter Bradley.
The Raiders signed Bradley, the son of long-time NFL assistant and former Raiders defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, as an undrafted free agent in 2024 out of South Alabama. He did not appear in the regular season last year, as he went between the practice squad and the active roster.
Bradley did play in two preseason games as a rookie, completing 17 of 34 passes for 225 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His most extensive action came in the preseason finale against the San Francisco 49ers, when he went 9-for-21 for 169 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also led a nice late-game drive in that matchup, but it was derailed by a sack and having to settle for a game-tying field goal.
Raiders cut young quarterback before he could even compete for a roster spot
As the quarterback depth chart was reshaped this offseason, first with the trade for Geno Smith, then with the selection of Cam Miller in the sixth round of the draft, Bradley was facing a serious uphill climb to make the Raiders' 53-man roster.
Truthfully, they are doing him a favor by cutting him loose now. If another team wants to give Bradley a shot, he can be there from Day 1 of training camp to compete for a roster spot.
Bradley is a product of the COVID-19 era in college football, spending a total of six seasons at that level, which he split between Toledo and South Alabama. The first of his two years at South Alabama was by far the best year of his college career, with 28 touchdown passes and over 3,300 yards as the Jaguars went 10-3.
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That long run in college also makes Bradley a little older than a typical second-year signal caller, at 25 years old already. But he should land somewhere as a training camp or preseason arm, like he could have been for the Raiders.
Bradley's time in the Silver and Black was nearing an end unless something unforeseen happened to another quarterback on the roster between now and roster cuts.
So, as would have happened eventually, it's Smith followed by Aidan O'Connell and Miller on the depth chart as training camp looms.