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

4. Marcus Mariota, quarterback

The Raiders paid Mariota handsomely to backup/push Derek Carr last offseason, which left them having to cut his pay this offseason or cut him. Trade rumors surfaced, but due in part to not working out a pay cut in time nothing serious seemed to materialize before a chunk of possible suitors had added a quarterback.

Mariota got a no-trade clause as part of his reworked deal, but the $3.5 million cap number is now far more manageable. If an opportunity to go somewhere and play surfaces, most likely if someone loses their starting quarterback to injury and calls the Raiders, Mariota would presumably waive that no-trade clause in a heartbeat.

If nothing else, Mariota will be a trade candidate during the season as quarterback injuries inevitably come. But I’ll go out on a slight limb and say the circumstance comes where he’s in another uniform by Week 1.

3. Zay Jones, wide receiver

Jones played all 16 games for the Raiders last year, but he was seldom-used as a bench receiver (14 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown on 20 targets). John Brown and Willie Snead were signed in free agency. Less significantly Trey Quinn was signed to a reserve/futures contract at the outset of the offseason, while Dillon Stoner and DJ Turner were signed as undrafted free agents.

If the season started today, Henry Ruggs III, Brown, Hunter Renfrow, Snead and Bryan Edwards would be ahead of Jones on the depth chart. So Jones will have to prove his worth on special teams to stick, after literally playing zero special teams snaps last year.

Re-signing him seemed to show the Raiders wanted Jones back this year. But the raw numbers they have at the position, without any further down-spout additions, show he is most likely gone between now and the start of the season.