Several weeks after his Vikings release, Albert Wilson has secured a deal elsewhere. The Raiders reached an agreement with the veteran wide receiver Friday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. It is a practice squad deal, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets.
The Vikings signed Wilson midway through the offseason but did not see enough from the seven-year veteran to reserve a 53-man roster spot for him. The 5-foot-9 pass catcher will attempt to catch on as a backup in Las Vegas.
The Raiders will be Wilson’s fourth team. He broke through as a supporting-caster for the Alex Smith-era Chiefs and parlayed that production into a nice free agency payday with the Dolphins, who gave him a three-year, $24MM deal in 2018. That contract was set to expire after the 2020 season, but when Wilson opted out of that campaign due to COVID-19 concerns, the deal tolled to 2021. Miami did not opt to bring Wilson back this year, leading him to Minnesota.
Wilson, 30, topped 450 receiving yards in two of his Chiefs seasons, and he scored four touchdowns during Ryan Tannehill‘s final Dolphins slate (2018). Wilson reached that total despite missing nine games that season, however, and did not produce much after coming back from his opt-out year. The Georgia State alum caught 25 passes for 213 yards in 2021.
Las Vegas has a firmly established passing-game hierarchy, one fronted by Davante Adams, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow. The team has, however, seen surprising production from ex-Wilson Dolphins teammate Mack Hollins, who topped 150 yards in the Raiders’ Week 3 loss in Tennessee. Vegas, which cut ex-Wilson Chiefs teammate Demarcus Robinson after signing him this offseason, has Keelan Cole and Tyron Johnson on its 53-man roster as backups.
Not sure what he brings to the table that the raiders don’t already have?
Veteran depth. Might not be a very long stay honestly.
You don’t think they’ve been shorthanded at receiver? He’s a body.
This points to Renfrow being out a while.