There has been a lot of roster movement around the NFL in recent days as teams get ready for OTAs. Former Las Vegas Raiders seventh-round pick M.J. Devonshire was just waived by the Buffalo Bills, but didn’t get a chance to test free agency.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Green Bay Packers claimed Devonshire off of waivers. He was first a seventh-round pick of the Raiders in 2024 and only lasted his rookie season in Las Vegas.
He spent time with the Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens and Bills last season. He hasn’t had a chance to play a regular season game, so he’s still an unknown commodity.
Devonshire has solid speed and was twice named Second-Team All-ACC when he was at Pittsburgh. Perhaps there’s still some potential there. He’s only 25 and hasn’t had a chance to show what he can do. The Packers have done a really good job with developing young defensive backs, so it’s a good landing spot. Keisean Nixon was another former Raiders cornerback the team gave up on, but ended up becoming an important player for the Packers. Perhaps Devonshire could have a similar career arc in Green Bay.
Will Jermod McCoy Play as a Rookie?
Cornerback has been a position the Raiders have really sturggled to find long-term stability. There may not be a team that has been worse at drafting cornerbacks this century.
They have selected notable draft busts like DJ Hayden, Gareon Conley, Damon Arnette and Trayvon Mullen in the first two rounds. 2021 fifth-round pick Nate Hobbs might be the best cornerback the Raiders have drafted in the last 15 years, but he’s not even with the team anymore.
The Raiders decided to take a big swing by selecting former Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy in the fourth round. He has first-round talent, but a knee injury has put his career in jeopardy. He may need another surgery that will keep him out for the 2026 season. General manager John Spytek hasn’t confirmed whether or not he’s going to get that surgery.
“We’re optimistic about the player, the person and our plan with him,” Spytek said on “Up & Adams.” “We’re excited to get him out on the grass sometime very soon.”
Raiders Did a Lot of Work on McCoy
The Raiders likely had to be surprised that McCoy was still on the board in the fourth round. He was arguably the best cornerback in the 2026 class before he got hurt. That said, the Raiders didn’t just decide to snag him because they knew he had some hype.
The team did their due diligence well before the draft to make sure McCoy was worth taking a chance on.
“We were staring at a player on our board that was way above everybody else,” Spytek said. “This wasn’t a Friday night decision or a week of the draft decision, either. We have a wonderful medical team here that spends countless hours pouring over every prospect in the draft and talking to people and going to the combine and really trying to make sure we’re comfortable with the players we’re bringing in from a medical standpoint.
“This was a very well vetted, thoughtful process that we talked about at lengths for weeks and even months before.”
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