NFL roster cuts tracker: Thorpe joins Cowser, McDonald on way out

The roster cut deadline is today at 1pm. Ahead of the official announcements, there will be reports of players who will be among those cut. The first report is about a player who at one time was thought to have played himself onto the roster.

James Cowser waived

He will be waived today by the Raiders according to NFL media’s Ian Rapoport. Jack Del Rio was pretty luke warm about Cowser’s play of late when he was asked about him.

“I thought he started out really fast and then he was kind of, maybe, I don’t know, not quite in the forefront of things, but I thought he showed up really well tonight,” said Del Rio Thursday night. “He made a couple nice plays on special teams. He showed up a little bit on defense. He’s got awareness. He’s an intelligent football player, so I think he definitely put his best foot forward tonight.”

With how good Cowser had looked this offseason, the team will likely be hoping he clears waivers so they may place him on the practice squad.

A practice squad placement is where I had Cowser landing in my 53-man roster projection. You can view that here.

Johnny Holton makes team

The undrafted wide receiver will be among the final 53, according to Adam Caplan. Caplan noted that Holton was nearly cut in May following OTA’s, but was drastically improved in training camp.

I can attest to just how bad Holton looked in the offseason training. He was dropping passes left and right. The team stuck with him and he redeemed himself with a fantastic camp and made some plays in the preseason as well.

Jalen Richard makes the team

It appears you can add another undrafted rookie to the roster this season. Former tryout player Jalen Richard has reportedly made the cut, according to Mike Cianciolo of KALB TV in Richard’s hometown of Alexandria Louisiana.

Richard impressed throughout training camp. After missing the first two preseason games, he performed well in the final two and earned his spot as the team’s third running back.

Dewey McDonald traded to Seahawks

In their efforts to make the smartest moves to get to 53, the Raiders have reportedly sent Dewey McDonald to the Seahawks.

McDonald had impressed coaches early in the offseason, but that confidence began to fade as training camp went along and McDonald looked quite bad in the preseason. He was turning into a long shot to make the roster, with perhaps the team looking to place in on the practice squad.

No word yet on what the Raiders are to receive in trade, but usually these trades are for no more than a conditional seventh round pick.

Neiko Thorpe released

In the battle with second year cornerback Dexter McDonald for the Raiders’ fifth cornerback job, Thorpe appears to have lost. He will be released among the final cuts after spending the past two seasons in Oakland. And thus the first news of the release of a player I had making the squad has come to pass.

Neiron Ball waived/injured in official cuts

The official cuts have been released. The surprises from my perspective were Antonio Hamilton not being among them, considering Thorpe was cut, Stacy McGee making the squad again, and Neiron Ball and James Cowser being waived/injured which sends them to IR should another team not sign them away in the next 24 hours.

To see the entire list of official cuts, click here.