After the Oakland Raiders completed their final preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night, the front office and coaching staff now has some tough decisions to make.
The Raiders, and every other team, must trim their rosters down to 53 before Saturday’s deadline, and for the first time in years, Oakland actually has too many quality players to choose from.
Every year when rosters are announced there are some surprises, and this move by the Raiders certainly falls into that category. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Raiders have decided to release veteran linebacker Brandon Marshall:
A surprise release: the Raiders have terminated linebacker Brandon Marshall, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2019
The outside linebacker spent the last six seasons with the Denver Broncos before signing with the Raiders this past offseason. He was expected to bring a veteran presence and leadership to a young locker room.
According to Marshall himself, he is still working himself back from injury, so he wasn’t able to fully show what he could do during training camp and the preseason:
I thank Oakland for the Opportunity! Unfortunately I had to use training camp to work myself back to full health, and I did just that! Ready for what God has for me next
— Brandon Marshall (@BMarshh) August 30, 2019
Marshall was listed as one of the team’s starters at linebacker on their depth chart, which makes the move that much more surprising. Nicholas Morrow and Marquel Lee will now likely see more time at the position, while Jason Cabina may have been the biggest beneficiary of the move as it could have opened up a roster spot for him.
With around 24 hours until rosters are to be released, the Raiders still have a lot of other tough cuts to make.
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