Alex Cappa‘s reunion with Tom Brady and John Spytek did not lead to a full-time starting job. The veteran guard will be a one-and-done in Las Vegas.
The Raiders announced Cappa’s release Friday. The move will create just more than $5MM in cap space for the AFC West team. The veteran guard did log some center snaps in 2025, playing there more often than at guard, but the Raiders will call it a day despite also having four-year guard starter Dylan Parham unsigned.’
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Cappa signed a two-year, $11MM deal following his 2025 Bengals release. The Raiders used the former Brady Buccaneers teammate as an eight-game starter. Cappa, 31, is an eight-year veteran with 104 starts on his NFL resume.
Formerly Tampa Bay’s Ali Marpet guard mate, Cappa did not end up starting in Super Bowl LV due to his only notable injury with the Bucs. The 2018 third-round pick returned in 2021 but left for a Bengals deal in 2022. As Cincinnati overhauled its O-line after a 2021 Joe Burrow sack parade, Cappa inked a four-year, $35MM deal and joined Ted Karras and La’el Collins as veteran imports that offseason. The Bengals cut Collins after one year, while Karras remains with the team.
Lining up as the Bengals’ right guard for three seasons, Cappa received a pink slip before his final year on that $35MM pact. Asked to play a new position with the Raiders, Cappa struggled. As run lanes for rookie Ashton Jeanty were sparse last season, Pro Football Focus graded Cappa as the NFL’s third-worst center (among those with enough snaps to qualify). The Raiders have Jordan Meredith (PFF’s sixth-worst 2025 center) and Jackson Powers-Johnson — a Rimington award winner who has been asked to play guard in the pros — contracted among interior O-linemen. Parham can begin speaking to other teams Monday.
One of the main reasons our line has been as bad as it has. This is good news
Played better at center than at guard surprisingly, but still a bad player. He’s a pure backup at this point