Raiders To Cut Nevin Lawson
The Raiders will release cornerback Nevin Lawson today in order to fill other areas of need (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). If Lawson goes unclaimed, the Raiders will try to bring him back to the practice squad.
Lawson, who began his career with the Lions, joined up with the Raiders in 2019. He didn’t have the best debut year. If he had enough snaps to qualify, his 60.8 overall score from Pro Football Focus would have placed him somewhere around the No. 70 CB mark. Still, the Raiders stuck with him and got better results in 2020. Last year, he started in nine of his 14 games and registered 61 tackles, four passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and one sack.
The 30-year-old was gearing up to return in Week 3, following his two-game suspension. Rather than activating him, they’ll pad out the rest of their badly-bruised roster. In recent days, the Raiders have watched guard Denzelle Good, running back Josh Jacobs, quarterback Marcus Mariota, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, and other key players head to the trainer’s room.
The Raiders, without Lawson, will try to stay undefeated on Sunday when they face the Dolphins in Vegas.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/18/21
The customary Saturday minor moves avalanche:
Arizona Cardinals
- Promoted: S Chris Banjo, CB Antonio Hamilton
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted: CB Kevon Seymour, T Andre Smith
Chicago Bears
- Promoted: DL Margus Hunt, T Alex Taylor
- Placed on IR: T Larry Borom
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted: S Sean Davis
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted: LB Elijah Lee
Dallas Cowboys
- Promoted: TE Jeremy Sprinkle
Denver Broncos
- Promoted: RB Damarea Crockett, OL Austin Schlottmann
Houston Texans
- Promoted: TE Antony Auclair, K Joey Slye
Indianapolis Colts
- Promoted: WR DeMichael Harris
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Promoted: WR Laquon Treadwell
Las Vegas Raiders
- Promoted: OL Lester Cotton, RB Trey Ragas
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted: DL Joe Gaziano
Los Angeles Rams
- Promoted: LB Micah Kiser, DL Justin Lawler
Miami Dolphins
- Promoted: CB Jamal Perry
Minnesota Vikings
- Promoted: RB Ameer Abdullah, S Myles Dorn, QB Sean Mannion
- Waived: TE Brandon Dillon
New England Patriots
- Promoted: LB Tashawn Bower, K Nick Folk
- Placed on IR: K Quinn Nordin (story)
New Orleans Saints
- Promoted: DE Jalyn Holmes, LB Wynton McManis, DB Jordan Miller, C Austin Reiter (story)
- Placed on IR: LB Chase Hansen
New York Jets
- Promoted: S Adrian Colbert, LB Del’Shawn Phillips
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on IR: LB Dre Greenlaw (story)
Tennessee Titans
- Promoted: TE Tommy Hudson
Raiders Place Marcus Mariota On IR
SATURDAY: The Raiders will indeed place their backup quarterback on IR. Mariota will be out until at least Week 5 because of this decision, moving Peterman into position as Carr’s backup. Linebacker Marquel Lee will take Mariota’s place on Las Vegas’ active roster, ascending from the practice squad.
THURSDAY: Marcus Mariota is expected to be out multiple weeks with an aggravated quad injury (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Raiders quarterback will miss a few weeks, at minimum, making him a candidate for the short-term injured reserve list.
Mariota saw a single snap on Monday night and took it for a 31-yard run. Unfortunately, he was forced out immediately after that play. Although Mariota isn’t the starter in Las Vegas, he was expected to serve a key change-of-pace role in the offense. They’ll have to find that spark elsewhere for at least the next few weeks.
Nathan Peterman will now step into the QB2 role for the Raiders, holding the clipboard for starter Derek Carr. The Raiders can free up a roster spot by moving Mariota to the injured reserve list but they don’t necessarily need to fill his spot with another signal caller.
Mariota appeared in one game in place of an injured Carr last season and showed fairly well against the Chargers on national TV, completing 17 of 28 passes for 226 yards a touchdown and an interception. He also added 88 yards and another score rushing. This year, he took a pay cut in order to stay with the Raiders through 2021. After his one-year, $3.5MM deal lapses, he’ll be eligible for free agency in the spring of 2022.
Raiders’ Josh Jacobs To Miss Week 2
The Raiders will be down another member of their starting offense for their Week 2 game against the Steelers. After losing Denzelle Good for the season, the team ruled out Josh Jacobs for Sunday’s matchup.
Jacobs missed practice throughout the week due to toe and ankle injuries. The toe issue emerged before Las Vegas’ opener; the ankle problem surfaced on this week’s injury reports.
The two-time 1,000-yard rusher appeared on the Raiders’ first injury report of the season but played against the Ravens. Jacobs scored two touchdowns in the Raiders’ Monday victory. Jacobs played 15 games last season, doing so after finishing his rookie season on IR due to an ankle ailment.
Kenyan Drake, whom the Raiders gave a two-year deal worth $11MM, stands to move into the team’s starting lineup. Drake spent the past two seasons as the Cardinals’ starting back. Playing on the transition tag last season, the former Dolphins draftee gained 955 rushing yards (4.0 per carry). Jon Gruden, however, said recent pickup Peyton Barber will pick up some of the slack as well. The Raiders added Barber after Washington released him ahead of this year’s roster cutdown deadline.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/15/21
Today’s minor NFL transactions:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: G Danny Isidora, DT Mike Pennel, OT Bryan Witzmann
Baltimore Ravens
- Promoted: DT Justin Ellis, S Anthony Levine
Denver Broncos
- Released from retired list: TE Jake Butt
- Released from suspended list: LB Jerrell Freeman
Houston Texans
- Signed off Saints practice squad: DT Jaleel Johnson
- Placed on IR: DT Vincent Taylor (story)
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: DT Damion Square
- Placed on IR: OL Denzelle Good (story), DT Gerald McCoy (story)
- Waived: CB Madre Harper
New Orleans Saints
- Promoted: K Aldrick Rosas
New York Jets
- Promoted: WR Isaiah Williams, S Jarrod Wilson
- Released from IR: CB/KR Corey Ballentine
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on IR: S Malik Hooker (story)
Raiders Sign OL Jordan Simmons
The Raiders will sign offensive lineman Jordan Simmons off of the Seahawks’ practice squad (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). The deal should become official later today, once Simmons clears his physical.
Simmons started his career with the Raiders in 2017 as a UDFA. The USC product spent the entire year on the practice squad before being waived the following August. The Seahawks picked him up in 2018 and deployed him in six games (three starts). He missed all of ’19 due to injury, but bounced back last year for 14 games, including six starts.
Simmons will help fill in for guard Denzelle Good, who will spend the remainder of the year on IR. He’ll join John Simpson as a supporting guard, though one of the two could start if Richie Incognito‘s calf doesn’t help up in time for Week 2. Simpson might have the edge in that case, since he got the call in Week 1.
“He’s gotten a lot of experience and reps because of Richie’s injury,” offensive coordinator Greg Olson said before Monday’s contest (via ESPN.com). “So, we feel comfortable there. And again, we talked about the depth that we have in the inside and he provided us with great depth and now he provides us with a starter.”
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/15/21
We’ll keep track of today’s taxi squad moves here:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB Kevon Seymour, OT Andre Smith
Chicago Bears
- Signed: OL Alex Taylor
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: S Sean Davis (story)
Houston Texans
- Signed: DB Grayland Arnold
- Released: DB Antonio Phillips
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Chris Wilcox
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: WR Maurice Ffrench
- Placed on IR: WR Joe Reed
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: CB Madre Harper
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: DB Jordan Miller, C Austin Reiter
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: WR De’Quan Hampton, TE Michael Jacobson, WR Connor Wedington
Raiders’ Gerald McCoy Done For Year
Raiders defensive tackle Gerald McCoy suffered a season-ending injury on Monday night (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). This was the expected news after the veteran was carted off the field on Monday night. 
The Raiders haven’t formally announced McCoy’s injury, but they did say it was a knee injury during the Monday Night Football telecast. It’s yet another season cut short for the former multiple-time Pro Bowler. Last year, a torn quad prevented him from taking the field for the Cowboys.
Before all of that that, McCoy earned six Pro Bowl nods with the Buccaneers and performed as one of the NFL’s best defensive lineman in the 2010s. He spent 2019 with the Panthers, appeared in all 16 games, and registered five sacks, giving him 59.5 for his career.
McCoy was set to serve as a rotational defensive tackle behind Johnathan Hankins. To keep the run defense in tact, the team will call on Solomon Thomas, Darius Philon, and new addition Damion Square.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/14/21
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Released from IR via injury settlement: CB Donnie Lewis
Detroit Lions
- Waived: G Tommy Kraemer
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed off Bears practice squad: DT Damion Square
New Orleans Saints
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: WR Michael Thomas; Thomas tested positive for COVID-19
- Signed: DL Montravius Adams, S Jeff Heath
- Waived: FB Adam Prentice
New York Jets
- Placed on IR: LB Blake Cashman, DB Lamarcus Joyner (story), P Braden Mann
- Signed: OL Isaiah Williams, S Jarrod Wilson
Philadelphia Eagles
- Released from IR via injury settlement: S Obi Melifonwu
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: CB Dontae Johnson
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: LB Jon Rhattigan
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: OL Earl Watford
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: LB Jared Norris
Raiders G Denzelle Good Tears ACL
The Raiders came out of their nationally televised opener 1-0 but are down at least one key player for the season. Denzelle Good suffered a torn ACL, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter).
Good spent most of last season as a starting guard for the Raiders, and the team used the veteran blocker as a starter Monday. Good was set to start opposite Richie Incognito, having won Las Vegas’ right guard gig. Incognito missed Monday’s game due to injury, thrusting second-year guard John Simpson into the starting lineup opposite Good. It would appear Simpson will stick in that role.
Good, 30, went down on the Raiders’ first drive. They moved recent addition Jermaine Eluemunor into the lineup opposite Simpson. The Raiders re-signed Good this offseason, giving him a two-year commitment at $4.18MM on average.
A former Colts draftee, Good hovered as a depth option between the 2016 and ’20 seasons. After spending the ’16 season as a primary Indianapolis starter, Good served as a backup in Indy and Oakland. However, the Raiders kept blocker around since claiming him off waivers late in the 2018 season. They were forced to use him as a regular following Incognito’s September 2020 injury. They will now hope Incognito can return from his latest injury soon.
Jon Gruden expressed concern Good, Yannick Ngakoue, Marcus Mariota and Gerald McCoy suffered serious injuries. It is not known if that is the case for the latter trio, though Good’s prognosis provides an ominous sign here. McCoy was carted off the field Monday night.