The Las Vegas Raiders made some interesting moves at the roster deadline on Tuesday. While none of them were earth-shatteringly big, the way they retained some players and the depth at certain positions stood out.
Raiders coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco are in agreement about how to build the Raiders' team: They want to win now, but they also want to build for the future, which means a lot of young players at certain positions.
But Pearce and Telesco have made it clear from day one that they intend to work with the youth movement unless they disagree.
The big thing to note about the 53-man roster is that the Raiders have nine rookies on the roster, and every player selected in the Raiders' last two drafts is on the roster, which bodes well for the Raiders as they look to build for the future.
Our own Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. spoke about the 53-man roster on a recent episode of the “Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast.”
“I still believe one or two trades can work out,” Carpenter said. “Or they sign some guys. It all depends on if this works out. They have the money. They're buyers. … The physical discipline of the Raiders allows them to do it. I've been telling you all offseason that the Raiders are investors, not gamblers. That's why you saw this roster go down the way it did with so many young guys. They're investing in their future. They understand that good teams always invest in young guys. You're developing them. You're investing in them. You're making them special. It shows how comfortable they are with their scouting department. It shows how comfortable they are with their ability to identify talent, to find it, to develop it and iron out any issues. That's a very good thing. … All nine of those rookies, 10 if you include Tre Taylor. … The Raiders are hoping they (the rookies) can be something. But they've never played NFL football, so they don't know. But they have other guys on the team, like Malcolm Kuhn, who they were hopeful about last year but didn't see much of, so now they're hopeful.”
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