The Raiders don’t seem sure on what to do with guard Gabe Jackson and defensive lineman Justin Ellis, both of whom are nursing knee injuries, as Jerry McDonald of the Mercury News writes. Jackson suffered a knee sprain in early August and is expected to miss at least four regular season games, while Ellis wouldn’t be able to play in Thursday’s preseason game even if he was needed. While Oakland could keep both Jackson and Ellis on their 53-man roster, that would mean retaining two players who won’t be of much use when the season gets underway. Alternatively, both men could be placed on injured reserve, but they’d have to first be carried on the Raiders’ initial 53-man roster.
Here’s more on the Black and Silver:
- Veteran defensive tackle Corey Liuget received a fully guaranteed one-year, $1MM deal from the Raiders, tweets Adam Caplan of SiriusXM NFL Radio. The pact includes a $930K base salary and a $70K signing bonus. The 2018 season couldn’t have gone much worse for Liuget, as a suspension, pay cut, and season-ending knee injury littered what became a lost campaign. Cut by the Chargers in February, Liguet since met with the Giants, Seahawks, Jaguars, and Cardinals before landing in Oakland. Always a solid run defender, Liuget could also give the Raiders an interior pass-rush boost.
- If the Raiders wanted to void Antonio Brown‘s contractual guarantees as a result of his helmet fiasco, they’d probably have a good case, as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com writes. Brown’s contact with the Raiders contains more than $30MM in guaranteed money, so voiding that cash would certainly give Oakland more long-term options. The star wide receiver lost his second helmet-based grievance earlier this week and appears ready to play, so this issue won’t rear its head just yet.
- Head coach Jon Gruden says the Raiders have engaged in trade talks with rival NFL clubs as the regular season approaches, per Vic Tafur of The Athletic (Twitter link). While it’s unclear what position group Oakland may want to trade from, Tafur today identified tight end as the deepest spot on the Raiders’ roster.
- Speaking of that tight end position, Derek Carrier has the edge over Luke Willson for the Raiders’ third TE slot, per Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area. Darren Waller and rookie Foster Moreau are expected to serve as Oakland’s top two tight ends.
What a Diva!! Im tired of hearing about all the Brown nonsense. Great player but also a grade A headcase that Im glad he’s the Raiders issue to deal with. He’s going to kill your team.
Right!? Looks like the Steelers were right in shipping out Antonio Brown.
If he wants to continue on in the NFL for a while longer he better get it together. Only reason his attitude is tolerated by some teams is the talent. At age 31 he can’t rely on that for all that much longer. Once his play isn’t worth putting up with his diva antics anymore he’s done.
Meh. Don’t think the helmet thing bothers the team as much as the fans. If he is productive in the offense he will be fine.
Brown’s numbers won’t be as good with the Raiders as they were in Pittsburgh: he doesn’t have the same talent on offense to make him look as good.
Do you really think Big Ben is that good? Brown and the rest of the WR’s in Pittsburgh made him look like a HOF QB, which he certainly is not.
Nobody cares about AB’s helmet drama except AB and the media. Once the season starts you can all shut up about it.