Raiders Waive QB DeShone Kizer
The Raiders will cut quarterback DeShone Kizer, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). With that, Kizer will hit the waiver wire, where the Bengals hold the top priority. 
[RELATED: Raiders Sign Sam Young]
A second-round selection in 2017, Kizer was pegged as a green talent that had high upside. Unfortunately for him, he was taken by the Browns, who proceeded to lose every game that season. At year’s end, he was shipped to Green Bay. Last year, the Packers dropped him before the final cut to 53, leading him to the Raiders. Unless he circles back to the Packers or Browns, he’ll join the fourth team of his NFL career.
Kizer is still only 24, but Jon Gruden & Co. didn’t see a place for him on the roster with Derek Carr, Marcus Mariota, and Nathan Peterman already in the QB room. Mariota, who joined on a two-year, $17.6MM deal, will be one freak or blown play away from taking the field in Las Vegas. Peterman, who was retained with a $2MM+ tender as a restricted free agent, figures to be the QB3.
Kizer has made 18 appearances over the course of his NFL career, most of which came during the Browns’ winless season. All in all, he’s got eleven touchdowns against 24 interceptions.
In addition to Kizer, the Raiders have also waived tight end Paul Butler, defensive end Kendall Donnerson, offensive lineman Kyle Kalis, and linebackers Te’Von Coney and Quentin Poling.
Raiders To Sign Sam Young
The Raiders have agreed to sign offensive lineman Sam Young, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. 
Young, 33 in June, had a cup of coffee with the 49ers last year. Outside of those four games in the fall, he was out of the NFL and showing his stuff on the workout circuit. That tour included a visit with the Dolphins, where he spent the 2016-2018 seasons.
The veteran tackle has 92 career appearances to his credit, including 21 starts. He’s suited up for the Cowboys, Bills, Jaguars, Dolphins, and 49ers in the past. Now, he’ll try to stick in Las Vegas as a depth OL addition.
Meanwhile, the Raiders claim that they’ll keep longtime starter Gabe Jackson in the fold, despite all the speculation to the contrary. The right guard has three years left on his deal with base salaries of approximately $9.3MM per year. The Raiders were unable to find a deal for him on draft week, even though their asking price was reportedly very low. Mike Mayock says he’s staying put, but a release remains possible since there is no guaranteed money left on his deal.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/30/20
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: DE DaVonte Lambert, CB Derrek Thomas
Dallas Cowboys
- Waived: LB Chris Covington, DB D.J. White
Oakland Raiders
- Re-signed: WR De’Mornay Pierson-El
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DT Josiah Coatney, FB Spencer Nigh
Five Teams Tried To Claim Austin Calitro
Austin Calitro is a popular guy. The Broncos, Browns, Jets, and Raiders all tried to claim the linebacker after he was waived by the Jaguars, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Ultimately, they all lost out to the Bengals, who had the league’s worst record last year and top priority on the waiver wire.
[RELATED: Bengals Claim Samaje Perine]
The Bengals were happy to welcome Calitro, who suited up in 13 games (including four starts) for the Jaguars last year. He’s got a solid chance of making the roster, where he could see his time split between defense and special teams. If he doesn’t make the cut, it’s a safe bet that at least a couple of these clubs will come calling.
Last year, Calitro registered 40 tackles and a sack while serving as a key special teams contributor for Jacksonville. Over the last two years, he’s logged 432 snaps in the third facet of the game.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/27/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Chicago Bears
- Released: TE Dax Raymond
Denver Broncos
- Released: S Tyvis Powell, TE Bug Howard, DL Deyon Sizer, DL Jay-Tee Tiuli
Detroit Lions
- Released: RB Tra Carson, LS James Fisher, G Casey Tucker, P Matt Wile
Green Bay Packers
- Released: QB Manny Wilkins
Indianapolis Colts
- Released: TE Billy Brown, WR Steve Ishmael
Kansas City Chiefs
- Released: QB Kyle Shurmur
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: RB Mark Thompson
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: C Coleman Shelton (Exclusive Rights Free Agent)
- Released: LB Jeff Holland
San Francisco 49ers
- Released: S Jacob Thieneman
Raiders To Keep Gabe Jackson
The Raiders won’t trade Gabe Jackson. At least, that’s the plan, according to GM Mike Mayock. 
“The future of Gabe Jackson? He’s our starting right guard,” Mayock said (Twitter link via Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Journal Review).
The Raiders used an early fourth-round pick on Clemson guard John Simpson, but Mayock indicates that he’ll be eased into the pro game behind Jackson on the depth chart. At 6’4″ and 321 pounds, Simpson was regarded as one of the strongest interior offensive linemen in this draft. Still, his technique needs lots of work, and he’s likely too green to be a first-stringer off the bat.
Jackson, meanwhile, has started in all but one of his games for the Raiders across six seasons. The former third-rounder has three years left on his deal with base salaries of ~$9.3MM in each season. The Raiders, reportedly, weren’t asking for much in trade talks, but they didn’t find a deal they liked. Mayock claims that he’ll join them for the inaugural season in Las Vegas, but it’s a situation worth monitoring as Jackson’s deal has no remaining guaranteed money.
Injuries have hampered Jackson lately, costing him eight games over the past two years. In 2019, Pro Football Focus graded Jackson as just the league’s 40th-best guard.
Patriots Trade Up To Raiders’ No. 91, Draft TE Devin Asiasi
The Patriots swung a deal to move up to the Raiders’ No. 91 overall pick, bringing them back into the third round.
Patriots acquire:
- No. 91
- No. 159
Raiders acquire:
- No. 100
- No. 139
- No. 172
With the 91st pick, the Patriots selected tight end Devin Asiasi, their first offensive player of draft weekend. Asiasi offers speed and good blocking technique, but scouts say he needs to spend some time pumping iron in order to adjust to the pro game.
The UCLA product figures to play a key role for the Pats in 2020, but you can expect them to explore veteran options between now and the start of the season. Trey Burton, Jordan Reed, and Charles Clay are among the free agent tight ends still left on the market.
NFL Draft Rumors: Vikings, Jags, Redskins
The Vikings have “done a lot of work on” Boise State offensive tackle Ezra Cleveland, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link), but Minnesota may have to move up in Round 2 in order to land him. Per Wolfson, the Vikings may need to get ahead of the Jaguars at No. 42 if they want to grab Cleveland. Minnesota’s second-round pick doesn’t come until No. 58 overall, so general manager Rick Spielman would need to work some magic in order to move up. Luckily, the Vikings have 12 picks remaining in the draft that could be used as trade ammunition.
Here’s more on the 2020 draft:
- Speaking of the Vikings and offensive tackles, the ideas of Minnesota acquiring Redskins tackle Trent Williams and moving up in Round 2 aren’t mutually exclusive, as Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune tweets. Washington wants draft capital it can use this year, and while the club has been asking for a second-round pick, the Redskins could also accept a combination of selections that add up to the value of a second-rounder, per John Keim of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Minnesota could use any number of those aforementioned 12 remaining picks in order to patch together an offer for Williams.
- Two clubs were attempting to move into the Buccaneers‘ No. 14 slot in order to land Iowa tackle Tristan Wirfs, which prompted Tampa Bay to move up one spot into No. 13 and take Wirfs for themselves, reports Jenna Laine of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Presumably, the Bucs figured teams moving to No. 14 would also be trying to move to No. 13, which was held by San Francisco. Instead, Tampa Bay shipped a fourth-round pick to the 49ers and added Tom Brady‘s new right tackle.
- When the Raiders‘ first came on the clock at No. 12, the club’s initial discussions involved offensive tackles, tweets Josina Anderson of ESPN.com. Oakland’s interest in tackles is a little puzzling, as it already has 2018 first-rounder Kolton Miller on the left side and the high-priced Trent Brown on the right. Eventually, the Raiders settled on Alabama wideout Henry Ruggs.
NFL Draft Rumors: Dolphins, Raiders, 49ers
Before the Dolphins stuck at No. 5 overall and drafted quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, there were rumblings that Miami wanted to trade up not for a signal-caller, but for an offensive tackle. Had the Dolphins followed through with that plan, they would have been targeting Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Thomas ended up coming off the board to the Giants at No. 4, so Miami would have had to get to the third overall pick in order to have a chance. The Dolphins ended up finding an offensive tackle later in Round 1 with USC’s Austin Jackson:
Here’s more from last night’s action:
- The Falcons were heavily linked not only to a potential trade up, but specifically to Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson prior to the draft. Atlanta did want to move up for Henderson, per Rapoport (Twitter link), but they couldn’t find a trade partner for a number of reasons. Both the Dolphins and Chargers wanted quarterbacks, the Panthers refused to trade within the division, the Cardinals were stuck on Isaiah Simmons, and the Jaguars wanted Henderson for themselves.
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The Raiders were attempting to trade back from the 12th pick before selecting Alabama wideout Henry Ruggs, according to Vic Tafur of The Atheltic (Twitter link). Speculatively, Las Vegas may have been happy to land any of the top-three pass-catchers and figured it could move down, acquire more picks, and still find a wide receiver. Instead, the Raiders surprisingly went with Ruggs, who was widely viewed as the third-best WR behind CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Jeudy.
- After trading DeForest Buckner to the Colts in March, the 49ers “quietly” tried to sign several free agent defensive tackles with no success, tweets Rapoport. Instead, San Francisco moved back one pick before adding South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link), Kinlaw was off at least one team’s board due to medical issues. Most clubs, however, deemed him only a “moderate” injury risk.
- The Cowboys debated between Lamb and LSU edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson at pick No. 17 before ultimately deciding on Lamb, per Rapoport (Twitter link). Chaisson was a popular target for Dallas in many mock drafts, but when Lamb unexpectedly fell to the middle of Round 1, the Cowboys couldn’t pass. Dallas will now feature a superb three-WR set of Lamb, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup.
Raiders’ Asking Price For Gabe Jackson Is “Not High”
Raiders guard Gabe Jackson has been mentioned in trade rumors since at least March, and Oakland continues to shop him in the lead up to the draft. The Raiders’ asking price for Jackson is “not high,” tweets Michael Silver of NFL.com.
Jackson, 28, has three years left on his contract with base salaries of roughly $9.3MM in each season. Oakland wouldn’t incur any dead money by releasing him, but the club is clearly aiming to recoup some sort of draft capital instead of simply cutting Jackson.
A second-round pick in the 2014 draft, Jackson has been a full-time starter since joining the Raiders. Injuries have caught up to him in recent years, however, and he’s missed eight games over the past two seasons. Last season, Pro Football Focus graded Jackson as just the league’s 40th-best guard.
It’s unclear just how little the Raiders are willing to accept in exchange for Jackson, but given his injury history and upcoming salaries, it shouldn’t be surprising if they’re only able to get a Day 3 pick, if anything.