The Las Vegas Raiders, like every other team in the league, had to trim their roster down ahead of the 2025 NFL season to just 53 players before the official deadline on Tuesday afternoon. In typical fashion, the franchise dragged its feet and kept fans in the dark long after the deadline passed.
On Monday, they announced their first round of cuts, which were fairly obvious and included no real surprises. However, several reports began leaking through on Tuesday afternoon about which players made the initial roster in Las Vegas, and which didn't.
ESPN's Ryan McFadden confirmed that the team waived UDFA cornerback Greedy Vance Jr., which was a risk, but they believe he is likely to return to the Raiders' practice squad. Shortly after, Las Vegas took a far greater risk; one that most would argue they could not afford to.
Raiders waive IPP guard Laki Tasi on roster cutdown day
Las Vegas waived promising guard Laki Tasi on Tuesday, according to McFadden. The issue, however, unlike Vance, is that McFadden noted that Tasi has interest from several other NFL teams on the waiver wire.
This means that, by tomorrow, Tasi could be with another franchise, and there is nothing the Raiders could do about it. Trying to sneak a player with immense potential like his through the waiver wire may not have been the best bet for new general manager John Spytek.
Tasi just began playing football five months ago, as he joined the NFL's International Player Pathway after a professional rugby career in Australia. While he is still far from being NFL-ready at this incredibly early stage of his football career, there is plenty of reason to keep him around.
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In his first-ever football game against the Seattle Seahawks in the first week of the preseason, Tasi earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 84.6. This was the highest mark on the Raiders' offense in that game.
He played fewer snaps in the second week against the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals, which was puzzling because Jackson Powers-Johnson played less in those two games. Perhaps this was a ploy to hide Tasi's talents from film watchers in an attempt to sneak him on the practice squad.
However, it seems like the jury is out on Tasi, and Raiders fans are not the only ones who noticed that the 6-foot-6, 373-pound guard is a potential mauler on the offensive line that is well worth a project or an investment on the waiver wire.
Let's hope that other teams have some reservations about adding a player who is so new to the game. Otherwise, Tasi may be as good as gone come Wednesday morning.