Obi Melifonwu unclaimed off waivers, back on Raiders injured reserve

Yesterday, the Raiders waived former second-round pick Obi Melifonwu. But the waiver process completed without any team putting in a claim on the oft-injured safety, so for the time being he remains a Raider.

Melifonwu was waived to make room for the Raiders’ newest signing, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Fans of teams like the Chiefs and Falcons had plenty of chatter about wanting their teams to sign Melifonwu, but nobody did. For now, Obi remains a Raider, as he was waived with an injury designation, meaning that if he were to go unclaimed, he would go back to the Raiders’ injured reserve list. That is exactly what has happened.

Melifonwu has been hurt for basically his entire tenure as a Raider, and he’s hurt now with no indication of what exactly is wrong with him. If he gets healthy, that’s great, but for the foreseeable future he’s on IR not taking up a valuable roster spot. The Raiders have enough hard roster choices to make as it is.