Raiders Cut OT Austin Howard
Early Friday morning, tackle Austin Howard took to Instagram to announce that he is being cut by the Raiders. Howard’s release comes midway through a five-year, $30MM contract signed in 2014. 
[RELATED: Raiders Release RB Taiwan Jones]
The Raiders signed Howard to that sizable free agent deal when he was just 26 and coming off of two consecutive 16-game seasons with the Jets. Unfortunately, Howard has missed eight games over the past two seasons and his play declined sharply in 2016. Howard graded out as the 52nd best tackle in the NFL out of 77 qualified players, according to Pro Football Focus. On the plus side, he committed only two penalties in his eleven games that resulted in a loss of yardage.
Had Howard stayed on board, he would have been relegated to a bench spot. The Raiders project to start Marshall Newhouse at right tackle, but Vadal Alexander and fourth-round rookie David Sharpe are also competing for the job.
Howard was slated to make $4.9MM in base salary in 2017. By cutting him, the Raiders will be left with $2.4MM in dead money against the cap.
Howard was hampered by an ankle injury last year and he underwent shoulder surgery this offseason, so he may want to take some time to heal up before he signs with another club.
Raiders Cut RB Taiwan Jones
The Raiders are releasing running back Taiwan Jones, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). With upwards of four years of service, Jones is a veteran and will not be subject to waivers. He will be free to sign with any club once he is formally cut loose. 
Jones, 29, started out with the Raiders as a running back after being drafted in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. The team had him switch to cornerback for a time, but he was moved back to running back for the 2015 season.
Still, he’s had only 44 carries in his six years with the club. Jones has primarily been a special teams guy for Oakland, but he even saw his return work slashed in 2016. Jones returned 26 kicks for the Raiders in 2013 and 31 kicks in 2015. Last year, he did just eight kick returns with a lackluster 14.0 yards per attempt average.
With Jones out of the picture, the Raiders appear ready to move forward with Jalen Richard, DeAndre Washington, and rookie Elijah Hood as the backups for Marshawn Lynch.
Raiders Sign Rookie Obi Melifonwu
The Raiders and second-round pick Obi Melifonwu have agreed to terms on a contract, agent Sean Stellato tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Melifonwu, the 56th pick, went to the Raiders on the heels of a stellar four-year career at Connecticut, where he tallied eight interceptions. Four of those picks came last year for Melifonwu, who also notched a personal-best 118 tackles. There are some questions about Melifonwu’s instincts, but the 6-foot-4, 224-pounder should be effective around the line of scrimmage, per NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, who likens him to the Bengals’ George Iloka.
With Melifonwu in the fold, every rookie from the second round down in the 2017 draft has now been signed to a contract. The only unsigned rookies left are 49ers defensive end Solomon Thomas, Titans wide receiver Corey Davis, and one of Melifonwu’s soon-to-be Raiders teammates, cornerback Gareon Conley. The Raiders’ hope is that he and Melifonwu will immediately boost a defense that finished just 25th in DVOA against the pass last year.
UNLV Hires Lawyer To Negotiate With Raiders
- UNLV hired a pricey lawyer to negotiate terms with the Raiders on the parties’ future use of the $1.9 billion domed stadium set for construction and future use, Adam Candee of the Las Vegas Sun reports. The Mountain West Conference program and the Raiders are legally bound, via state mandate, to co-exist at the to-be-constructed venue. But the sides have to negotiate the agreement. Florio notes the Raiders proposed the first draft of said agreement, one Candee and Florio note was tilted toward the NFL team.
Raiders, Gareon Conley Talking Contract
Rookie Gareon Conley could conceivably face sexual assault charges stemming from his pre-draft incident. That issue complicates things when it comes to his contract, but the Raiders are not necessarily going to wait for a resolution to things before hammering out a deal. Talks are underway and ongoing, Mike Florio of PFT hears. 
The Raiders investigated the allegations against Conley as thoroughly as possible in the days leading up to the draft. Presumably, the Raiders felt that any sexual conduct Conley engaged in was consensual. They likely assumed that he would be cleared of any wrongdoing before the start of training camp, but that might not happen with a little over week to go.
It remains to be seen whether the Raiders will actually ink Conley to a contract before his case is resolved. If they do, they may push for protections that wouldn’t ordinarily be in a rookie’s contract. Conley’s camp may bristle at the notion of accepting less guaranteed money than a typical No. 24 overall pick or allowing the Raiders to have extra escape hatches in the deal.
Beyond the murkiness of his legal situation, the two sides could also butt heads over the guarantees of Conley’s slot versus the guarantees of players drafted around him. Jarrad Davis, taken with the No. 21 overall pick, had his full four-year deal guaranteed. Dolphins rookie Charles Harris, taken No. 22 overall, has 97.31% guaranteed. Giants rookie Evan Engram, selected with the 23rd pick, has more than 96% of his deal locked in. The Raiders may not be inclined to give Conley a deal like Engram’s in light of his off-the-field circumstances.
Raiders Sign Two Players
The Raiders announced the signings of running back John Crockett and offensive lineman Kareem Are. The team also confirmed the previously reported addition of linebacker Brady Sheldon.
Are was a two-year starter at Florida State and earned an All-ACC Second Team nomination in his final year on campus. He participated in the Raiders’ rookie minicamp in May as a tryout player and, like Sheldon, he finds himself with a contract here in July.
Crockett’s initial entry into the league came when he signed with the Packers as an undrafted free agent in May 2015. Unfortunately, he has been slowed by injury in the NFL and was forced to miss the entire 2016 season. He has nine carries for 21 yards in the NFL with all attempts coming over the course of two games as a rookie. As a senior at North Dakota State in 2014, Crockett set school records for all-purpose yards (2,419), rushing yards (1,994) and rushing attempts (368).
The Raiders’ roster is now back to the 90-man max following some roster shuffling earlier this month.
Raiders To Pay $378MM Relocation Fee
- Thanks to the relocations of the Rams, Chargers and Raiders, the league’s other 29 teams will each receive a gross sum of $55.2MM over an 11-year span, reports Darren Rovell of ESPN. The two Los Angeles teams, the Rams and Chargers, will each pay a $645MM relocation fee from December 2019 to December 2028, while the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders will owe $378MM. They won’t have to begin paying until the year they actually move to Vegas.
Raiders Sign Undrafted Linebacker
The Raiders have signed linebacker Brady Sheldon, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Ferris State product was in rookie camp with the Raiders earlier this summer and made a strong impression on coaches. 
[RELATED: Latest On Raiders’ Gareon Conley]
The Raiders waived three players last week, including two linebackers, so it was expected that they would add to the roster. With speed working in his favor, Sheldon will look to stick in Oakland as an outside linebacker. The Raiders project to start Bruce Irvin and Shilique Calhoun at the OLB spots with support from Jelani Jenkins and fifth-round pick Marquel Lee. James Cowser, and Tyrell Adams are also among the OLBs in camp.
Ferris State, located in Big Rapids and Grand Rapids, Michigan, is not exactly known as a football powerhouse. However, the Division II program has turned out some quality talent. Sheldon’s invite to Raiders camp this year marked the fifth consecutive year in which a Ferris State player received an NFL opportunity. Now, he’s on the 90-man roster with an eye on making the final cut.
In his final season on campus, Sheldon tallied 54 tackles, one sack, 2.5 tackles for a loss, and three pass defenses in 14 games.
Gabe Jackson Extension Details
- While the full details and structure of Gabe Jackson‘s five-year, $56MM extension with the Raiders aren’t yet know, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (Twitter links) has passed along a few particulars of the deal. Oakland, well-known fans of the pay-as-you-go contract structure, employed that technique with Jackson, per Corry, meaning the club did not use a signing bonus. Such a composition should allow the Raiders to easily exit the pact in future years. Jackson’s 2017 cap charge has now increased from roughly $1.945MM to ~$10.648MM, meaning Oakland utilized about $8.7MM of its available cap space.
Latest On Raiders’ Gareon Conley
Two and a half months ago, Gareon Conley met with authorities regarding a woman’s allegation of sexual assault against him, and the rookie Raiders cornerback’s attorney expected a resolution on this case to come six to eight weeks from that meeting.
No such resolution has emerged, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. Conley has not been charged in connection with this alleged incident, but no word has come out whether he will be or not. After 10 weeks, the cornerback’s future is still clouded because of this matter.
Conley is one of the seven first-round picks who hasn’t signed his rookie deal. The Raiders may be waiting for this matter to be resolved before signing the corner to a deal, Florio offers, noting the $5.5MM-plus signing bonus that will come Conley’s way as part of this impending agreement.
A woman accused Conley of sexual assault at a Cleveland hotel in April, and it affected the Ohio State product’s draft stock. Conley said he did have a consensual sexual encounter with the woman on April 9, an act his attorney specified was not intercourse, Conley’s vehemently denied her allegations.
The Raiders open training camp July 29, and this process dragging on past then would push it firmly into distraction territory for a team that gambled and selected Conley 24th overall.