The Raiders worked out 16 players on Thursday, and the group of tryout players included offensive lineman Evan Neal and wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
The Giants released Neal, who has not played since 2024. The Giants selected him seventh overall in the 2022 draft, and he began his career at right tackle. The Giants moved him to right guard, and he did not play a snap there last season.
He ends his Giants career with 29 games played, including 27 starts.
The Cowboys released Valdes-Scantling on Sunday. In 2025, he appeared in five games each for San Francisco and Pittsburgh, catching four passes for 40 yards with the 49ers and 10 catches for 80 yards and a score with the Steelers.
A fifth-round pick in 2018, Valdes-Scantling has caught 219 passes for 3,686 yards with 21 touchdowns in his career.
The Raiders also worked out offensive guard Evan Beerntsen, wide receiver Ronnie Bell, defensive tackle David Blay, defensive back Stephen Hall defensive back Tre Hawkins, center Trey Hill, offensive tackle Christian Jones, tight end Josh Kattus, linebacker Dasan McCullough, defensive back Latrell McCutchin, defensive end David Ojabo, linebacker Azeez Ojulari, linebacker B.J. Ojulari and offensive tackle Colby Sorsdal.
The Raiders will be doing some work on Allegiant Stadium once the 2026 season is over.
The Las Vegas Stadium Authority approved $75 million in public money as part of a $158 million plan to upgrade access to the stadium. The Raiders will foot the rest of the bill.
Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morrison said in August that the team wants to improve the flow of fans to the north side of the building. Most fans access the building by crossing a bridge from the Las Vegas Strip and the plan is meant to create a more direct path by extending the elevated walkway.
“The north side of the building has become one of the more pressure points in the guest experience,” Douglass Morgan said in August, via the Associated Press. “That infrastructure is stretched to capacity.”
Work on the project will not begin until after the season and is set to be completed by the time Allegiant Stadium hosts its second Super Bowl in 2029.
The Raiders naming Kirk Cousins their starting quarterback to open the 2026 season was hardly a surprise.
While Las Vegas had been projected to draft Fernando Mendoza at No. 1 overall for months, the team’s brass had said publicly that its preference was for a rookie quarterback to sit and learn behind a veteran.
But now that it’s official, Mendoza has become a member of a rare group of quarterbacks from recent years.
Mendoza is the first quarterback since Baker Mayfield in 2018 not to start Week 1 after being selected at No. 1 overall.
Mayfield’s situation was not particularly unusual at the time, as Jared Goff had been through the same thing in 2016.
But since then, Kyler Murray (2019), Joe Burrow (2020), Trevor Lawrence (2021), Bryce Young (2023), Caleb Williams (2024), and Cam Ward (2025) have all been their respective club’s Week 1 starter after being selected at No. 1 overall.
Since Matthew Stafford was selected at No. 1 overall in 2009, only Goff, Mayfield, and Mendoza have started the season as QB2. Sam Bradford (2010), Cam Newton (2011), Andrew Luck (2012), and Jameis Winston (2015) all started the season opener.
Mayfield made it into a game by Week 3, taking over for an injured Tyrod Taylor to lead the Browns to their first victory since 2016 with a 21-17 victory over the Jets. He took over as Cleveland’s starter the following week.
It took longer for Goff to ascend to QB1 for the Rams in 2016, as he began his tenure as Los Angeles’ starter in Week 11 with a 14-10 loss to Miami.
Mendoza’s development will remain a priority for the Raiders, even as he won’t receive starters’ reps in the regular season.
“Early work, late work. More meetings,” Kubiak said on Wednesday. “Plenty of time on the field between drills with [QBs] coach [Mike] Sullivan and [offensive coordinator] coach [Andrew] Janocko. Every player that is not starting the first game, that is helping us on the look team, we’re just trying to find every edge we can find to continue to get him better and his teammates better.”
Aside from those selected at No. 1 overall, there are plenty of QBs who haven’t started early and ended up being successful.
“I think there are so many examples both ways,” Kubiak said. “I think the most important thing with the quarterback room or any other position is to build competition within the room. That makes players so much better faster than coaching, when they have a guy in front of them that they can look up to and see how something’s done — that’s going to accelerate their growth.”
We’ll see when Mendoza becomes Las Vegas’ starter. If Cousins plays well and the Raiders are winning, that might not be until 2027. But history suggests Mendoza will be on the field sooner or later as a rookie.
Raiders rookie defensive end Keyron Crawford was placed on injured reserve during the cut to 53 players last weekend and head coach Klint Kubiak updated the nature of his injury on Wednesday.
Crawford was not given the designation to return when he went on injured reserve and Kubiak revealed that is because he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Crawford was injured in Las Vegas’s final preseason game.
Crawford was a third-round pick for the Raiders in the spring after playing at Arkansas State and Auburn during his college days.
Maxx Crosby, Malcolm Koonce, Kwity Paye, and Patrick Johnson are the defensive ends on the Raiders’ active roster heading into Week 1.
While the Raiders have characterized Ashton Jeanty as “on the mend” with his ankle injury, head coach Klint Kubiak provided a little more information on the running back in his Wednesday press conference.
Though Jeanty did not practice on Wednesday, Kubiak replied “yes” when asked if he’s optimistic about Jeanty being available to play in the season opener.
“He’s continuing to improve,” Kubiak said. “You guys saw him out there yesterday. He’s still on the mend.”
Jeanty suffered an ankle injury during practice on Aug. 23. While the injury initially appeared like it could keep Jeanty out for an extended period, he was subsequently diagnosed with a sprained ankle.
The No. 6 overall pick of the 2025 draft, Jeanty registered 1,321 yards from scrimmage with 10 total touchdowns as a rookie.
The Raiders will play the Dolphins to open their season on Sept. 13.
