Raiders working out safeties in wake of losing Johnathan Abram to injury

This week Jon Gruden patted himself on the back for keeping five safeties on the roster because they lost starting safety Johnathan Abram to a shoulder injury. Teams typically keep four safeties on the roster, so with Abram out, the team would still figure to be fine. Even still, they went about looking at some free agent safeties to sign according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

The name that stands out is T.J. McDonald who has been a full time starter for his entire 6-year NFL career.

The Fresno California native was a third round pick by the Rams in 2013 and spent the first four years of his career in St Louis and Los Angeles. He played the past two seasons for the Dolphins. He was suspended for half the 2017 season for substance abuse problems would could explain why he was still unsigned despite being just 28 years old.

The other DBs mentioned are Kentrell Brice, Juston Burris, and Briean Boddy-Calhoun.

Some fans seem to be wondering why the Raiders didn’t work out former Bengals safety George Iloka or former All Pro Eric Berry. They may have. Keep in mind, often times the report of who worked out is of the guys who were not signed. This is just who is reportedly worked out. There could easily be others who worked out, perhaps even Iloka or Berry.

Currently the safeties on the Raiders roster are Karl Joseph, Curtis Riley, Erik Harris, and Dallin Leavitt.