The Raiders are waiving linebacker Tanner Muse (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). The news comes as a surprise, given that Muse was a third-round pick just last year. 
Muse missed his entire rookie season with a toe injury. This summer, he’s seen reps with the first string unit while also working as a special teams player.
The Clemson product was first-team All-ACC in his final year on campus and drew league-wide attention. He registered 73 tackles, six tackles for loss, two sacks, and a team-high four interceptions in 2019, prompting the Raiders to take him No. 100 overall in 2020.
It’s worth nothing that the move has not officially hit the NFL’s transactions wire yet. Given the 6’2″, 230-pounder’s potential, it’s possible that the Raiders could find a trade for Muse before he hits the waiver wire.
In any event, this marks a clear miss for GM Mike Mayock & Co. Muse was one of three Raiders third-round picks in 2020. Now, two of those players are gone — wide receiver Lynn Bowden was shipped to the Dolphins before the start of last season for a fourth-round choice.
Possible suspension?
They just don’t know what they’re doing, and I say that as a Raiders fan. They whiff on so many draft picks because they only seem to want players from major college schools.
Muse may not even be a whiff, but they’re giving up on him already. That’s a wasted pick. It’s incompetence to the highest degree from LV management.
Davis and Gruden suffer from “I’m the smartest guy in the room” syndrome. Mayock is a poor substitute for Reggie McKenzie and will eventually be thrown under the bus as well.
I’ve said it on here many times before and I’ll say it again. As Bucs fan and big fan of Gruden as a coach, the dude cannot get his ego out if his own way (and the GM’e way). JG is perhaps the worst decision maker when it comes to player personnel department in the entire NFL. If he ever learns to let somebody else build a team and just focus on coaching, he may win another Super Bowl. Until then he’s a lost cause.
Yeah, let someone else build a championship roster then come in, coach them for a year, and act like he’s Vince Lombardi.
Did anybody ever read his book after Tampa’s 1st SB? Brutal…
Well, McKenzie drafted that Defensive End project Jihad Ward one pick ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry.
DJ Hayden, Gareon Conley, Karl Joseph, and other First Round busts.
Yet mack and carr weren’t from “big schools”
2014 draft is kind of an exception though. I mean look at that draft in the 1st through Carr in the 2nd. It is a who’s who of great players from around the league over the last 6 years. It was a top of the draft that you would have had to be Browns bad at the time to draft bad. But also 2014 was 6 years ago, you can’t bring up 2 people out of the like 50 drafted over that time as like a gotcha point.
He did not draft those guys
You can thank Reggie for Carr and Mack, not Gruden.
Gruden did trade Mack, though- and he has whiffed on every single pick in the return except Jacobs, who is coincidentally from… Alabama.
Would you trade a top flight pass rusher for a RB?
Agreed 100 as a Raider fan too
I’m a clemson fan and thought muse was an overreach for third round.
He’s got some ability. Glad they moved him to LB bc he didn’t have the speed to keep with receivers as a safety.
He hustles and he’s okay; he should be backup and special teamer somewhere.
He can now begin his career as Vanilla Ice’s stunt double.
L
LOL!!
They signed Wright, perhaps Muse just wasn’t picking up Bradley’s defense and they decided to use a roster spot on someone who knows it
Also, gotta love all these armchair GM’s and supposed “Raiders fans” that bash every move Mayock and Gruden make. Look at the entire 7 round draft and tell me how many of the 32 teams don’t have some whiffs in their history of making draft picks. It’s not an easy thing to do and I’d say that the Raiders have added some pretty decent talent in the last few years. I agree that they seem lost on how to maneuver the draft at times by not trading down to draft players rated lower on the big board, but they’ve also added some pretty solid talent and I think this is the year that we’ll see some that start to hear fruit.
Look at the entirety of the Gruden era, from bad trades to missed draft picks. Missing on picks in 5,6,7 is one thing but missing on multiple 3rd round picks can cripple a team.
Muse was a 4th round pick. So was Max Crosby. Take a look at the 4th round picks from 2020 and tell me how many teams hit a home run with their pick. Edwards was taken right after Bowden in that draft and looks like he could be primed for a breakout season as the #2 receiver behind Ruggs. Every team makes a bad pick or two, I’m not going to panic or throw out the baby with the bath water because they made a decision that a couple guys they’d hoped would fit into the system didn’t. Let’s discuss this again when some football gets played, I’m very optimistic
about this Raiders team being a playoff team.
To question someone’s fanhood bc their organization routinely makes frankly weird decisions and doesn’t have any recent success is actually hilarious
We were 8-8 last season. The Raiders have improved over their last 3 seasons. Like I said I’m going to see how the team does this season and how some of Mayock’s guys perform this season before I start calling for their heads
Muse and Lynn Bowden were 3rd round picks in 2020 and neither will have played a single regular season game for the Raiders. Good organizations do not miss that bad with 3rd round picks. Couple that with what looks like a bust of a 1st round pick in Damon Arnette and you have what looks like a very poor draft. If Henry Ruggs doesn’t improve his game it will have been a disaster of a draft.
Good organizations also don’t miss year after year on 1st or 2nd Rd Picks but the Browns did that on a consistent basis from 1999 until they hired John Dorsey. Some teams fall in love with the Combine other teams are smart enough to watch the tape. Some teams have too many cooks in the Kitchen. When the Raiders were really good at Drafting they had very few people Al Davis and Ron Wolf. Some Organizations also choose not to draft many players George Allen with Washington only his 1st yr did he have a 2nd rd pick. Never had a 1st rd pick, the other years his earliest pick was in the 4th Rd. 2 or 3 yrs 5th rd and once an 8th Rd choice. You can find talent in the CFL, undrafted Free Agency after the draft. Pick up guys that are on other teams practice squads as the Raiders did with Waller. Its hard to evaluate a draft after 1 yr or 2 years. McKenzie was the GM from 2012 to 2018 got rid of Latavius Murray after 2016. Go look at those drafts. Go look at the Browns since 1999, Go look at the Browns also under Belicheck. Still one of the biggest draft meltdowns of all time. the Jets took Kyle Brady, Trade down, help the Baltimore Ravens, Trade down some more draft Craig Powell.
Raiders draft guys in the first round that everyone else has later round grades on. Terrible talent evaluation under Mayock and Gruden.
I wouldn’t call it terrible talent evaluation as much as terrible draft room navigation. I like the players they’ve reached for, just not in the spots they got them at.
Seems odd that a player who was working with the first team would get waived at this point. It sort of points to something else being an issue.
Waiving him on his birthday is also pretty low class.
He was only working with the first team bc of the numerous injuries to other lbs higher on the depth chart, which is why they acquired Perryman and KJ Wright
Really getting harder to defend. Johnson and Muse this year. Yet we keep Nixon and Leavitt? Don’t save the money on Richard? Just inexplicable.
Only thing I can think of is that they already have a Carrier/Leavitt relationship with him.
I hope it wasn’t based on his sexuality. I hope we are passed that by now
well none of us know his sexuality so no it wasn’t based on that
So first off, Mark Davis is not suffering from “I’m the smartest guy in the room” syndrome…. We cannot make fun of the Prius driving and Southwest coach seat flying man that openly admits his limitations and hires whom he believes to be the best people to fill the gaps.
Gruden and Mayock have had multiple trades blow up in there face. They also have made too many experimental picks in the early rounds. Late rounds they are picking production players however, early rounds they are drafting players for “let’s try this” crap.
If Gruden and Mayock had deployed a solid plan and path forward they would have already made a post season appearance. If you want to play with your first three picks then take the Rams approach and trade them for solid vets. Trying to reach and make a S into a LB or a cover 3 DB for a cover 2 LB or a KR into a RB is not working.
I like Deablo, I think he’s gonna turn into a productive player
It was a 3rd rd pick, not like it was a 1st rd pick like the Browns drafting KR Justin Gilbert thinking he could play Corner. Or you do what George Allen did and basically not use his draft picks trading most of them in a draft that was 12 rds or more at the time. 21 Raiders Draft Choices on the Roster, 21 draft choices of other teams, 15 completely undrafted guys. The guy I wish they would cut is Peterman. Also look up your Raider history. The Raiders were known for switching guys positions. Fullbacks become Tight Ends, Picking up players off the scrapheap, or guys other teams had problems with and they come to the Raiders and became stars. They would have made the playoffs last yr had the defense not played so utterly badly. They might have had back to back playoff appearances under Del Rio had they not gotten rid of Musgrave as OC. That Bozo Downing has Resurfaced as the Titans OC. I have the Titans going 9-8 in a very weak AFC South because of it. The Reason teams have allotted draft choices these days is because of George Allen he sometimes traded the same pick twice. I like the Roster the Raiders have right now. I wish they had another Veteran Corner. Most of their younger guys have been thru a trial by fire.
Its not all about the Draft You build a team thru Free Agency both after the draft with undrafted Free Agents and the Free Agency the NFL has now. Two Words George Allen he never had a 1st Rd pick in Washington because he always traded his picks he only had a 2nd rd pick once and mostly if he kept any picks they were in the 4th or 5th Rd or later. Plus Muse was a College Safety they were converting to LB in the Odd 2020 draft. Right now the Raiders have 21 of their own picks on the roster 21 guys who were drafted by other teams and something like 15 undrafted guys according to the Roster on Pro Football Reference. Plus Muse was expendable with the moves to get Perryman and Wright.