Oakland Raiders: Top 3 takeaways from the team’s initial round of cuts

3. Tight end depth chart appears to be set

The tight end position has undergone quite the revival over the last two seasons in Oakland’s offense. After years of lackluster production from their tight ends, the Raiders saw a renaissance at the position with Jared Cook in town.

Cook was the team’s leading receiver in each of the last two seasons proving that tight ends could be incredibly valuable in the passing attack, even if the Raiders didn’t seem to think so for a couple of seasons.

But now with Cook gone, the pressure will be on to find his replacement.

26-year-old veteran Darren Waller is the presumed Week 1 starter and the athletic converted wide receiver will be looking to make good on the opportunity. But while his job was essentially secured, the remainder of the depth chart remained up in the air this summer.

Now, after the initial round of cuts, it seems certain as to which players will make the final 53-man roster.

The Raiders opted to release veteran Luke Willson and former undrafted free agent Brandon Barnes leaving the team with just four tight ends on the roster. And out of the four, it’s pretty easy to pick out who won’t make the cut.

Expect 26-year-old Paul Butler to get the ax on Saturday while Waller, Derek Carrier, and rookie Foster Moreau make the roster. Moreau was essentially guaranteed a roster spot while Carrier has been a solid depth piece and key special teams cog for a number of years now.

And with Willson out of the picture, the tight end position seems all but set going into Week 1.