Raiders claim DE Jeremiah Valoaga off waivers, send CB Nick Nelson to IR

Nick Nelson’s stay on the 53-man roster was a brief one, as the former practice squad member was placed on injured reserve after just one game on the active roster. In a subsequent move, the Raiders claimed defensive end Jeremiah Valoaga off waivers.

Valoaga was released by the 49ers earlier this week after a little under a month on the active roster.

An Oxnard, CA native, Valoaga played his college ball at UNLV and signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He’s mostly been a practice squad player thus far in his career, bouncing from Detroit to Miami to San Francisco before his latest stop with the Silver and Black.

At 6-foot-6, 275 pounds, Valoaga can size and depth to the defensive end rotation if need be. Considering that there’s only one game left in the season, it’s likely that defensive line coach Brentson Buckner simply wanted to get a closer look at Valoaga in practice to see if he’s worth taking a flier on next season.

With Nelson out, rookie Isaiah Johnson will likely be made active for the regular season finale. Johnson has fallen behind Nelson and fellow rookie Keisean Nixon in the cornerback pecking order, but he may get a some chances on special teams and a few defensive snaps against the Broncos.