The Las Vegas Raiders' rushing attack never got going during the 2024 NFL season after letting All-Pro running back Josh Jacobs walk in free agency. His replacements, Zamir White and Alexander Mattison, left plenty to be desired as they mustered a league-worst 79.8 rushing yards per game.
With Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly now in Las Vegas, the emphasis on the ground game will be stronger than ever. Improvements were obviously needed, so the team went and drafted Ashton Jeanty No. 6 overall and signed veteran Raheem Mostert in free agency.
Given that White and promising young running backs like Sincere McCormick and Dylan Laube were on the roster, the addition of Mostert was a bit of a gamble. Mostert is already 33 years old and coming off an injury-riddled season in which he mustered just 278 yards in 13 games.
Raiders reporter predicts team will cut Raheem Mostert
While Mostert has not performed poorly during the first two preseason games for the Raiders, other backs like McCormick and Laube have put together solid performances, and the new regime is surprisingly high on White.
When putting together his 53-man roster projection for the 2025 NFL season, the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore predicted that Mostert would get cut in favor of Jeanty, White, McCormick and Laube.
"White has impressed the coaching staff and is leading the charge to be Jeanty’s primary backup. That could make Mostert, a veteran free-agent signing, expendable," Bonsignore wrote. "McCormick and Laube are both younger than Mostert and can contribute on special teams."
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This would be a bit of a shocking move for the team, because both Mostert's experience and his relationship with Chip Kelly were the big reasons why the team signed him. However, his one-year, $1.6 million contract that he signed was not exactly a vote of confidence from the team's leadership.
Only $175,000 of this was guaranteed at signing, so the Raiders could cut Mostert without paying any financial penalty. Getting rid of White, McCormick or Laube would result in almost no penalty either, so this should not be the team's No. 1 concern, especially because they have ample cap space.
Mostert's ability as a pass-catcher is something that separates him from both White and McCormick, and his 13 years of NFL experience trump Laube's single touch in a regular season game. While getting rid of Mostert might be plausible, it would not necessarily be the right move for the franchise.
Instead, they should look to offload White either by trade or simply releasing him and hoping that he returns to Las Vegas after clearing waivers. Mostert is just one year removed from a Pro Bowl campaign in 2023, and perhaps with better health, he can return somewhere near that level in 2025.