The Raiders have cut veteran tight end Lee Smith, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Rapoport posits that Smith could reunite with his old offensive coordinator Todd Downing, who is now the tight ends coach of the Titans, and Paul Kuharsky of PaulKuharsky.com feels that Tennessee will indeed pursue Smith (Twitter link).
Smith’s release comes as something of a surprise, as Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has shown a fondness for veterans of his ilk, and he is one of the better blocking tight ends in the league. But he offers almost nothing as a receiver, as he has averaged just 49 receiving yards per season in his eight years in the league.
Plus, Oakland just added TE Foster Moreau in the fourth round of last week’s draft, and the club already has a blocking tight end on the roster in Derek Carrier. Luke Willson, who signed with the Raiders last month, is the most prolific receiving TE on the roster.
Smith signed a three-year deal with the Raiders last March, but he made it through just the first year of that contract. Oakland creates just under $2MM in cap space with the move.
Wow, the TE group keeps getting stronger and stronger in Oakland.
Funny, I was just looking at available free agent TE’s this morning because the Raiders are real light at the position even after drafting one (TE’s tend to take a couple of season’s to transition to the NFL) and there are none. Now i see this news. Ugh
I imagine they just see the LSU kid as his replacement. That kid is supposed to be a good blocker with some future upside as a receiver. Then with Waller expected to be a guy this year, and Carrier also being a blocker but with more versatility than Smith, writing was on the wall. Who knows, maybe he’ll be back. Was a good guy. Appreciated him standing up for Carr last year when the media was piling on.
Blocking tight end with little else. Foster whom them just drafted is an excellent blocker and that skill should translate well and instantly
True, but Smith is really good at blocking. It’s understandable that the Raiders fell they can move on from him if they just drafted a replacement, but some other team could very well use Smith. And I’ll give you one team now: the Steelers. They are currently very thin behind Vance McDonald and are in need of a block-first backup.
Good call…they lost Jesse James to the Lions in free agency