The Las Vegas Raiders have vastly improved their roster from last year's four-win campaign. Pete Carroll and John Spytek have been hard at work reconstructing the team, and now, they'll face their toughest test yet as they cut the roster down from 91 to 53 players on Tuesday.
While the Raiders' starting lineup and key rotational players are largely set in stone at this point, the team lacks depth across the board. They could also use a starting-level player at both cornerback and defensive tackle, as well as a solid backup at offensive tackle.
Fortunately for Las Vegas, they'll have a handful of key advantages in the coming days as the rest of the league chops down their rosters and both the waiver wire and free agent markets suddenly become robust again.
Raiders have unique advantages during roster cutdowns
Because the Raiders were so bad last season and earned the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, they will also have the same spot in the waiver wire. This means that when a young player is waived from their old team, Las Vegas has the opportunity to claim them before 26 other teams will.
This will be a huge advantage for the Silver and Black, as the waiver wire is a prime opportunity to grab promising young players who were phased out by their old teams. This is where the Raiders nabbed Jack Jones and Jonah Laulu over the last few years.
Another key advantage the Raiders have is their abundance of salary cap space. They have the fifth-most in the league for 2025 at just a hair under $35 million, so this gives them the flexibility to add veterans and outbid other teams for free agents corners like Stephon Gilmore or Rasul Douglas.
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With $35 million this year and some of the most available cap space over the coming years as well, Las Vegas has the opportunity to make a huge splash for a player in the echelon of Micah Parsons, Trey Hendrickson or Terry McLaurin.
Carroll and Spytek know that this roster is far from complete, and they still need a few key pieces to try and gain traction in a brutal AFC West. The next several days will be pivotal for them to gain ground in the division and the AFC overall.
Luckily, they have a rare combination of edges over their competition that they can use to their advantage. If they do so effectively, this may not be the same old Raiders team again during the 2025 NFL season.