Raiders To Release Christian Ponder
The Raiders will release quarterback Christian Ponder, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). As a result, Oakland will absorb $1.5MM in dead money this year, per Caplan (via Twitter). Ponder’s departure means Matt McGloin will serve as Derek Carr‘s primary backup.
Ponder, a first-round pick from Florida State in 2011, spent the first four years of his career as a Viking. He appeared in 38 regular-season games and made 36 starts, struggling throughout his tenure in Minnesota to live up to his draft status. The 27-year-old threw 38 touchdowns against 36 interceptions and had a sub-60 percent completion rate with the Vikings. His best season was 2012, when he threw 18 TDs and 12 picks for a playoff-bound team.
The Raiders signed Ponder to a one-year, $2.25MM deal during the offseason in the hopes that he’d replace Matt Schaub as a quality backup for Carr. However, he was outdone in the preseason by McGloin and will now look for work elsewhere.
Raiders Trade Sio Moore To Colts
The Raiders have traded linebacker Sio Moore to the Colts, tweets Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. In return, the Raiders will get a sixth-round pick in 2016, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
Oakland was recently shopping Moore, who fell out of favor with head coach Jack Del Rio and his staff, per Bair. Prior to the sour turn in the relationship between him and the coaches, Moore was expected to be the Raiders’ starting weakside linebacker this season.
Moore has 26 appearances (22 starts), 140 tackles and 7.5 career sacks to his name since the Raiders used a third-round pick on him in 2013. Moore’s 2014 campaign came to an end after only 11 games because of a hip injury, though he’s healthy now and looking to build on a 90-tackle, three-sack effort. Despite his solid numbers, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) was unimpressed with Moore last year, ranking him toward the bottom (19th out of 21) among 4-3 OLBs who played at least 50 percent of snaps. He received a rather positive assessment from the site as a rookie, though, particularly against the run. Opposing ground games have been a bugbear lately for the Colts, who had the 18th-ranked run defense in 2014. They were famously gashed by the rival Patriots runners twice last season – including in a 45-7 AFC title game shellacking.
Moore will switch schemes with the Colts, who run a 3-4, so the role he’ll fill in Indianapolis is currently unclear.
AFC Notes: McCoy, Mathis, Browns
After releasing longtime backfield weapon Fred Jackson earlier this week, the Bills could find themselves without his replacement, LeSean McCoy, for their Week 1 matchup with Indianapolis on Sept. 13. McCoy, the Bills’ big-ticket offseason acquisition, has been dealing with a hamstring injury since last month and was noncommittal about his status for the opener when asked by reporters Friday.
“We’ll wait and see,” he said, according to ESPN.com. “Only thing I can do is control what I can control, and that’s just working hard and getting treatment and getting ready to go get out there.”
Bills head coach Rex Ryan stated he’s “optimistic” McCoy will be ready for Week 1. If McCoy can’t go, Ryan isn’t ready to name a starter for the Indy game.
“I’m not gonna get into those type of scenarios, the what-ifs and all that type of stuff. I know one thing: This football team will be ready. Period,” he said.
More from the AFC:
- Buffalo’s Week 1 opponent, the Colts, could have pass rusher Robert Mathis back for the opener, according to head coach Chuck Pagano. “There’s a possibility,” Pagano said, per Mike Wells of ESPN.com. “We’ll just evaluate how the week goes. Rob is doing great. He’s making great progress.” Mathis, who had an NFL-high 19.5 sacks in 2013, sat out all of last season after tearing his Achilles.
- Browns general manager Ray Farmer is suspended four weeks for violating league rules prohibiting certain uses of electronic devices during games last year. Thus, executive chief of staff Bill Kuharich will oversee their player personnel department until Farmer returns, reports Andrew Gribble of the team’s website.
- The Titans’ starting offensive line is in place, writes Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com. “Pretty much, it’s set,” said head coach Ken Whisenhunt. From left tackle to right tackle, they’ll go with Taylor Lewan, Byron Bell, Brian Schwenke, Chance Warmack and Jeremiah Poutasi.
- The Raiders are receiving interest from teams regarding receiver Seth Roberts, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan. Roberts, who signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of West Alabama last year, was second in receiving yards (243) during the preseason.
Extra Points: Titans, Trent Williams, Cowboys
The NFL Players Association recently filed an injury grievance on behalf of former Titans tight end Taylor Thompson, according to a league source who spoke with ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan. Thompson, who was officially waived June 19th, is expected to have knee surgery in the near future, but he was not released with an injury designation at the time of the transaction.
Here’s more from around the NFL..
- Washington‘s new deal with Trent Williams resets the market for left tackles, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap writes. Williams’ deal is similar to the contract Joe Thomas signed with the Browns in some respects, like the $42MM value of the first three years of the deal. However, in years four and five, Williams could earn a good deal more than Thomas or Tyron Smith of the Cowboys. The biggest difference of all, of course, is the guarantee structure, which amounts to $30MM in total.
- Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said there could be a lot of action from the team after final cuts, as Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram tweets. Jones added that running back will be a position of interest for the organization.
- The Raiders are very likely on the look out for a kick returner on the waiver wire, Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.
Rams/Chargers To Join Forces On L.A. Stadium?
A pairing of the Rams and Chargers in Inglewood, Calif. is gaining momentum among NFL owners who fear that the Raiders don’t have the cash to make the move work, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. At this time, the Rams are on board with that plan but the Bolts are reluctant since there isn’t “a lot of trust” between the two teams at this time (link).
Long-term, Cole wonders aloud (link) if the Raiders’ financial situation could force Mark Davis to sell the team to someone with deeper pockets. He also hears that NFL owners and executives are kicking around the idea of moving the Jaguars to St. Louis to replace the Rams if they head west (link). Nothing is certain at this time, but it sounds like there could be a serious domino effect stemming from the NFL’s venture into the Los Angeles market.
Meanwhile, Floyd Kephart, the man trying to redevelop the Oakland Coliseum complex and finance construction of a new stadium for the Raiders, has been pitching his plan to the team for several months. As it turns out, that proposal didn’t jive with the team’s “terms and conditions” for deal and is a non-starter for the Raiders, Matthew Artz of the Bay Area News Group writes. In short, the Raiders made it clear to Kephart that they needed to control stadium revenues to help pay for the team’s $500MM contribution toward the stadium, including a $200MM stadium loan from the NFL. Kephart’s proposal, meanwhile, would have had the financial shortfall filled primarily through issuing bonds backed by future stadium revenue.
Raiders Sign Lorenzo Alexander
Two days after he was released by the Cardinals, linebacker and special-teamer Lorenzo Alexander has found a new home. The Raiders announced today in a press release that they’ve signed Alexander, waiving linebacker Horace Miller in a corresponding roster move.
Alexander, 32, spent his first six NFL seasons with Washington, earning a Pro Bowl spot in 2012 for his work on special teams. Alexander joined the Cardinals prior to the 2013 season, and in 2014, he played just 53 defensive snaps, but contributed all season long for the team on kick and punt coverage.
An Oakland native, Alexander played his college ball at Cal, so it’s a homecoming for the eight-year veteran.
Raiders Down To 75-Man Limit
The Raiders announced a ton of moves on Tuesday to get down to the 75-man roster maximum. Some of the moves, like the release of running back Trent Richardson and wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, were previously announced. The full list is below:
Waived:
- Steven Clark, P
- Rob Daniel, CB
- Cody Fajardo, QB
- Josh Jarper, WR
- Lamar Mady, G
- Trent Richardson, RB
- Kenbrell Thompkins, WR
- Milton Williams III, WR
Released:
- James Dockery, CB
- Ras-I Dowling, CB
- Trindon Holliday, WR/RS
Waived/Injured:
- Jimmy Hall, S
Placed on IR:
- Menelik Watson, OT
Holliday, 29, was a dynamic return man for Denver in 2012 and 2013, bringing back a total of four kicks and punts for touchdowns over the course of those two regular seasons. As a member of the Broncos in the 2012 postseason, Holliday became the first player to return a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the same playoff game. The Broncos decided not to tender a contract to Holliday when he was eligible for restricted free agency a year ago, leading to a 2014 campaign in which the former sixth-round pick bounced around from team to team and battled injuries along the way. Holliday had stints with the Giants, Buccaneers, and 49ers in 2014, and was ultimately cut by San Francisco in April. In June, he landed with Oakland, but his time there has ended as well.
Raiders Waive Kenbrell Thompkins
The Raiders waived wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (on Twitter). The move will go on tomorrow’s transactions, meaning that he could be claimed on Wednesday at 3pm CT.
Thompkins, 26, stuck with the Patriots in 2013 after being signed as an undrafted free agent, impressing at times during his rookie campaign. He caught 32 passes for 466 yards and four touchdowns in eight starts last season, but wasn’t a major part of New England’s passing attack in early 2014, and was cut just a few weeks into the season. The Raiders then acted quickly to claim him. In 12 games for Oakland, Thompkins caught 15 passes for 209 yards.
The Raiders will also waive UDFA quarterback Cody Fajardo, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan (on Twitter).
Raiders To Cut Trent Richardson
The Raiders will cut running back Trent Richardson, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com tweets. Richardson, 25, was said to have been on Oakland’s roster bubble this offseason.
Richardson was selected third overall in the 2012 draft by the Browns, but lasted just over a year in Cleveland, having been dealt to the Colts for a first-round pick early in the 2013 campaign. Richardson was underwhelming, to say the least, during his time in Indianapolis, recording 977 yards and six touchdowns on 316 rushing attempts across two seasons, while adding 55 receptions for 494 yards and a TD in 29 games (20 starts). During his time wearing blue and white, the Alabama product averaged just 3.1 yards per carry.
Richardson’s time in Indianapolis came to an unceremonious end when the Colts waived him after hitting him with a two-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team at the end of the 2014 season. Less than a week after he was let go, the Raiders swooped in and signed him. Now, the former No. 3 overall pick will be looking to join the fourth team of his short career.
Latavius Murray and Roy Helu are the Raiders top two backs and T-Rich was expected to serve as the No. 3 back on the depth chart. However, today’s news confirms that Michael Dyer, who hasn’t been setting the world on fire either, has leapfrogged him.
Raiders’ Menelik Watson Ruptures Achilles
Raiders right tackle Menelik Watson suffered what is believed to be a ruptured Achilles tendon during the first quarter of Sunday night’s game against the Cardinals, according to the offensive lineman himself. Watson tweeted out the diagnosis late on Sunday night, vowing to eventually return “stronger than ever.”
Watson, 26, was selected by the Raiders with the 42nd overall pick in the 2013 draft, and has started 12 of his 17 games for the club since then. In 2015, he looked poised to enter the season as the club’s starting right tackle — now that he’ll likely miss the entire season, veteran tackle Austin Howard looks like the next man up on the offensive line.
Watson has yet to be officially placed on injured reserve by the Raiders, but that will almost certainly be one of the team’s roster moves this week, as the club looks to reduce its roster from 90 players to 53 by Saturday.