Raiders: 5 players who won’t be on the roster by Week 1

The Las Vegas Raiders need to win more games this year, and in that effort these five players will be gone by Week 1.

In three seasons since Jon Gruden came back as head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders are 19-29 with no playoff appearances. They have improved their win total each year, from four to seven to eight, and they gave the Kansas City Chiefs two stern tests last season. But if Jon Gruden didn’t have a reported 10-year contract, there would surely be more talk about his job security.

The Raiders have lingered as a possible trade suitor for some big names this offseason. They’ve made an effort to restock the defense and re-shuffle the offensive line (however unnecessarily in the latter case).

With minicamp, training camp and preseason games to sort things out, these five players won’t be on the Raiders’ roster by Week 1.

5 Las Vegas Raiders who will be gone before Week 1

5. Darius Philon, defensive tackle

The Raiders signed Philon, who hasn’t played since 2018 with the Chargers, in March. The Arizona Cardinals signed him to a two-year deal in 2019, but they him cut in August of that year before he ever played a game for them after an arrest.

After signing Solomon Thomas and Quinton Jefferson, re-signing Johnathan Hankins and signing Darius Still as a UDFA, the Raiders seem well-stocked on the interior of their defensive line. In a certain light you can never have too many capable bodies along the defensive line, but Philon will have a hard time showing out after two seasons out of football.