Raiders waive Travis Ivey

Upon arrival at training camp on Sunday, there was a noticeable absence of one large bodied loiterer along the sideline. The absence was that of number 97, Travis Ivey. A short while later, we were notified the Raiders had officially waived the big defensive lineman.

Following yesterday's practice, head coach Dennis Allen was visibly disappointed in Ivey not practicing due to his not passing his conditioning test. It goes against everything Allen stands for as a head coach. Allen preaches "body language" a great deal and Ivey's body language was not saying good things. And his body size was speaking even louder.

Ivey was the only true nose tackle on this team. Nose tackles can be hard to find in this league and an even half decent one can be quite valuable. With the Raiders looking to mix in some 3-4 sets, Ivey had a real shot of making this team. Or so we thought he did.

Per Allen, the team will look around to see if there is anyone who may be able to fill in for depth but there is no sense of urgency. As he explains, a lot of teams use undersized nose tackles. Kelly is the top candidate to fill the role and as of yet we don't know if anyone else would be the backup at the position.

This puts the Raiders at 88 players with 90 players allowed.