Following the announcement of their initial 53-man roster, the Las Vegas Raiders had more work to do. And sitting at No. 1 on the waiver wire, John Spytek was uniquely situated to make some splashes and claim several players who could help out this team. The bottom of Las Vegas' roster is still in flux.
But Spytek shocked Raider Nation on Monday when all he did was claim former San Francisco 49ers cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. and waive 2024 fourth-round pick cornerback Decamerion Richardson in a corresponding move. With as many holes as the team has, this felt like a missed opportunity.
However, more analysis of the situation and one key report will have this fanbase feeling good again. Not only was it a bad year to claim players, but the Silver and Black still apparently got the belle of the ball when they used their position to snag Luter Jr., the fourth-year pro.
Raiders' Darrell Luter Jr. was a hot commodity on the waiver wire
ESPN's Field Yates reported on Tuesday that not only did Las Vegas have competition for Luter Jr., but that he was the only player on the waiver wire who had more than two teams put in a claim for him. In fact, Luter Jr. had four other teams vying for his services after roster cutdowns.
The Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans all tried their hand at getting Luter Jr. as well, but the Raiders stepped in before any of them could get their hands on him. That's great talent identification and acquisition for the Las Vegas front office.
Again, Luter Jr. was the only player of roughly 1,000 on the waiver wire who had more than two teams wanting to claim him. And he had five. He may not have been on the radar of Raiders fans, but Spytek saw what the rest of the league seemingly saw in the young cornerback.
And it remains to be seen just how big a role Luter Jr. will have, considering how late in the process he's joining the team in Las Vegas. But Spytek and the decision-makers have to feel vindicated that the only player they wanted is one that several other teams put in a claim for.
Luter Jr. was the hottest commodity on the waiver wire, and the Silver and Black got him. That is good news.
Raiders' inactivity on waiver wire doesn't look as bad with more info
Las Vegas didn't claim anybody other than Luter Jr., though, which was alarming to fans who feel like this Raiders roster still has a long way to go and that several potential solutions to problems were available to be claimed. To some, it was a waste by not adding more than just a single player.
This sentiment deepened when the Dolphins, a fellow rebuilding team, claimed a whopping seven players on Monday, over double what anyone else in the league did. It felt like Las Vegas' Week 1 foe was getting ahead and being aggressive in flipping over the bottom half of their fairly weak roster.
Raiders fans wanted their team to do the same.
It was a bad year to claim players, though, and it may continue to be going forward. On a general level, NIL in college sports has kept players in school longer, so Day 3 of the NFL Draft has been somewhat gutted. Late-round picks are being released and not kept around more than ever before, it seems.
Based on some deeper analysis, too, Monday's waiver wire had fewer claims than in years past. If you take out the outlier that was 2020, an average of just over 34 players get claimed per year on the day after roster cutdowns. That number has been up in the 40s at times as well.
On Monday, that number was just 29, and that's including the Dolphins' unheard-of seven players claimed. The landscape is just different, and as Yates reported, only a single player was even a commodity around the league. A handful had two claims put in for them, and that's it.
So, while the inactivity on Monday felt pretty disappointing in a lot of ways, fans should recognize that the Raiders got the best player available, at least in terms of his perception in the league, and that Spytek and Co. weren't alone in being idle. It's the way things are trending, not a reason for concern.
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