Yesterday, the Raiders announced their 53-man roster and today made the Denzel Perryman deal official. The Raiders roster news comes as the team prepares for its Week 1 game at home on a national stage.
Las Vegas general manager Mike Mayock said the roster is “fluid” and is subject to change right until kickoff next Monday night at Allegiant Stadium as the Raiders face the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football.
“Keep in mind, the roster is fluid, especially the first 48 hours after this,” Mayock told the media Wednesday. “And I can attest to that as I wasn’t a very good player and they often used me in that proxy to get a guy through to IR.”
Perryman deal is now official
As reported last week, the Raiders traded for former LA Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman became official earlier on Wednesday.
The Raiders will send a 2022 sixth-round draft pick to the Carolina Panthers in return for Perryman and a 2022 seventh-round draft pick.
Perryman, 29, returns to a defense led by Gus Bradley, the team’s new defensive coordinator.
Mayock said the injuries have hurt, but getting a player like Perryman will ease that tension. The Raiders roster news will continue to stay hot as they look to fill in for depth due to the injuries.
“You get punched in the gut a little bit with injuries at linebacker,” Mayock said. “Obviously, we feel pretty good about the trade we made with Carolina last week. Sometimes, coaches – I think – put a lot of emphasis on knowing a system. But not only does this kid know their system, but he’s also been a good football player.
“We feel pretty good about bringing Denzel Perryman in and adding him to the group. But when you lose Nick Morrow, Javin White, are we still open for business, potentially? Yes, we are.”
The 5-foot-11 linebacker spent six seasons with AFC West for the Chargers, including four with Bradley as the Bolts’ defensive coordinator.
In 2020, Perryman started in six of the Chargers’ 13 games and recorded 48 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble.
More Raiders roster news: Practice squad consists of high-volume players in preseason action
Over the course of the Raiders’ three preseason games, one of Jon Gruden’s goals was to play a lot of young players, which they did. Yesterday’s Raiders roster news, around the cut to 53 players, included some young players who shined in the preseason. The Raiders were able to clear waivers on several of them and add them to their practice squad on Wednesday.
Running back Trey Ragas, who was competing for the fourth spot on the depth chart, ultimately did not make the 53-man roster. He did clear waivers and today’s Raiders roster news confirmed Ragas was back in the Silver and Black.
Mayock was concerned that the 5-foot-10 running back could have been taken with all of the action he saw in the preseason.
“Thought he played really well, competed really well and we like him a lot,” Mayock said. “One of the things at running back is that there is usually a lot of them out there. When you look through the cut sheets, there aren’t that many guards and tackles out there, but the wideouts and running backs are long.
“So, you have to sift through a lot, but he put great tape out there. We were worried about it.”
Another player who did not make the active roster but the practice roster is defensive lineman Kendal Vickers.
Vickers came from the Canadian Football League in 2019, where he recorded 12 tackles and two sacks with the Edmonton Elks.
Mayock said the 26-year-old has a bright future ahead of him as he continues to progress.
“He’s a good player, inside and out,” Mayock said. “We feel like we found him in Canada and that was another good scouting story and we found him. We developed him a little bit last year and we love the kid. We want to keep developing him.”
A third player cut from the 53-man roster is linebacker Max Richardson, who went to Boston College from 2016-2020 and played in 50 games. The Raiders roster news today included bringing Richardson back on the team’s practice squad.
As an Eagle, he recorded 316 total tackles, including 175 solo tackles to go along with 32.5 tackles for loss for 104 yards. In addition, he recorded 10.0 sacks that cost opponents 72 yards.
“The Max thing is interesting because he is one of the most productive college players that we had in our camp,” Mayock said. “If we look at the number of tackles and what he did at Boston College, people that want to knock him – as far as scouting is concerned – is size, lack of length and overall pure speed.
“When you put the tape on him, you just watch this guy come downhill and hit and run, you go ‘that’s a pretty good football player.’ I’m hoping that we can continue to develop him on the practice squad because his Football IQ is really high.”
Follow the rest of the Raiders roster news through the week here on VegasSportsToday.com.