Raiders waived a draft pick who's still on his rookie contract, along with a slew of other players

   

Las Vegas Raiders waived a draft pick who's still on his rookie contract, along with a slew of other players

The Las Vegas Raiders' new regime, run by former Seattle Seahawks HC Pete Carroll and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek, means business. They are getting their players in, and players from the former regime, out.

Now, that doesn't mean guys like Maxx Crosby, or other obvious players, but the guys who don't make the 53-man, or even barely make it. The guys that they feel like they could replace with better players, they are getting them out of there, at least for now.

We have already seen that this new regime certainly has a type, based on how free agency went and how the 2025 NFL Draft went. Then, you can look at their Undrafted Free Agent Class and see the exact same thing -- speed, athletic abilities, length, and IQ. But, none of that matters if there is a player who meets those same qualities but is better at football.

The Raiders will add them, and, they have. They officially signed former Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants linebacker Jaylon Smith. He was on the Raiders in 2023, but was let go after one game. However, they let him tryout at rookie minicamp, and with what they saw, they liked enough to sign him.

Here are the total transactions the Raiders made on Monday:

Signed: Jahfari Harvey, Ketron Jackson Jr., Jaylon Smith, Key'Shawn Smith, Wesley Steiner, Jonathan Sutherland.

Waived: Dominic Boyd, Amari Burney, Matthew Butler, Tyreik McCalister, Brandon Smith, and released Kristian Wilkerson.

You may notice that they have released linebacker Amari Burney, the former Florida Gators safety turned linebacker. He was drafted by the Raiders in 2023 in the sixth round and has since played in 24 games for Las Vegas. He has started one game, has 32 total tackles, three total tackles for loss, and one sack.

With him being waived, there is still a chance that the Raiders get him back. But, only time will tell.