The Las Vegas Raiders continue to remake their wide receiver room. Though the team likely needs to keep adding to the position, but have decided to move on from a player.
The Raiders announced that they have decided to waive wide receiver Brenden Rice. He joined the team toward the end of last season and did enough to earn another contract this offseason.
Rice was a productive wide receiver at USC, but has had a hard time catching on. Notably, he’s the son of Hall of Fame former Raiders wide receiver Jerry Rice. His last name wasn’t enough to keep his Raiders roster spot.
He’s proven to be a talented player, so he could have a chance to get back on the roster down the road. He could also end up playing elsewhere, but for now, he’s likely headed toward free agency.
Raiders Still Weak at WR
Even if Rice stuck around, it was unlikely he would be an impact player this season. His release doesn’t change things much. However, the Raiders still do have a need at wide receiver.
ESPN’s Aaron Schatz thinks it’s their most pressing need.
“The Raiders have wide receivers, but no one is established as a No. 1 option,” Schatz wrote. “(Yes, their No. 1 receiver is tight end Brock Bowers, but it is still good to have somebody drawing attention outside.) Tre Tucker is going into his fourth season and had 57 catches for 696 yards and five touchdowns last season, but he also had a score of just 29 out of 100 in the ESPN receiver scores. Jack Bech (20 catches for 224 yards) and Dont’e Thornton Jr. (10 catches for 135 yards) underwhelmed in their rookie seasons. Dareke Young had just four receptions in four seasons with Seattle before signing with Las Vegas this offseason, and rookie Malik Benson is a sixth-round pick.”
Raiders May Need to Wait Until Next Year
The Raiders addressed a lot of needs in the draft, but it’s always going to be difficult for a rebuilding team to fill all their holes. Former Raiders offensive lineman Lincoln Kennedy believes the team might have to wait until next year to find
“I think that when we did our mock drafts and when we looked at the offseason with the acquisitions, and we saw what the Raiders did, in the back of my mind said, ‘You know what? They’re probably not going to address this receiver position in the draft,’” Kennedy said on the “Locked on Raiders Squad Show” podcast. “It’ll probably be next year. And for as many people talk about Denzel Boston and all these other receivers, I saw where teams like Cleveland went. I saw where other teams went. I just didn’t have those guys designated as a true X.
“I have not seen that out of these players. Not to say that it’s not going to be next year, sure as, but I still think that you have to see what you have out of Jack Bech. The Jack Bech and Brock Bowers combo and Naylor out there, you have to see that what you have. Dont’e Thornton Jr., I think, will be better. I think a lot of times when they were throwing those 50-50 balls up last year, he just wasn’t in the right place, but he’ll get better with his route running.”
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