Oakland Raiders: Biggest Roster Surprises On Cutdown Day
By Kevin Saito
The cutting of second-year linebacker Shilique Calhoun is, hands down, the most surprising roster move of the year for this Raiders team.
Which is not to say that it was the wrong move. Quite the contrary actually – it was actually the very right move to make. Given the value of high draft picks, it’s just not often that you see teams part with a third-rounder after just one year. Sometimes, players take a bit more time to develop – see Cory James.
If Calhoun is going to develop though, it’s going to be somewhere else.
Calhoun followed up a very lackluster rookie season with an even more lackluster summer. He never flashed in camp and didn’t do very much throughout the preseason.
Last year, as a rookie, Calhoun played in ten games for the Raiders. And in those ten games, he managed half a sack and five total tackles. So, to say he had an underwhelming rookie campaign would be an understatement.
And over the exhibition season, he quite frankly, wasn’t all that much better. It wasn’t until the final preseason game against Seattle when Calhoun seemingly woke up, recording three tackles – one for a loss – two quarterback hits, and a sack.
Unfortunately for him, it was too little too late. Stats racked up against guys, most of whom, were going to get pink-slipped on cutdown day doesn’t really get it done.
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Giving up and cutting bait on a guy one year after drafting him is a GM admitting that they whiffed badly on the pick. And it’s not often a GM will do that (see D.J. Hayden). The fact that McKenzie is essentially admitting to his mistake is a good thing.
So is having Calhoun off the roster. Now, here’s hoping the Raiders have the guys (or will get the guys) who can be more productive at the position.