General manager John Spytek’s roster overhaul continues as the Las Vegas Raiders cut Decamerion Richardson and make room for a new cornerback.
Spytek’s roster reshaping continued Monday, and Decamerion Richardson paid the price. The Raiders used their No. 1 waiver priority to claim cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. from the San Francisco 49ers, then waived Richardson to balance the roster.
The move was not shocking. Richardson was the only cornerback on Las Vegas’ roster that Spytek did not have a hand in acquiring, and his production, 13 defensive snaps last season and a rough rookie debut in 2024, made him the logical outlier in a suddenly crowded room.
Raiders fans react to Decamerion Richardson news…
Still, the timing struck a nerve with fans. Richardson was among the first cuts announced Sunday, then waived outright a day later, a sequence one fan called “dirty” in an X post from @LukeRoland68, even while clarifying he was “not a DeCam fan.” Others were less sympathetic. @WarDogDemons wrote that Richardson had been “absolute trash since day one,” and @Ballerstweets recalled his lukewarm reaction on draft night as an early red flag about his passion for the game.
The mix of criticism and mild sympathy captures where Richardson sits in the fan base: unmourned, but not exactly dismissed as an afterthought either.
What makes this situation worth watching is the math. The Raiders’ practice squad announcement Monday listed just 16 players, one short of the 17 allowed, with Kansei Matsuzawa occupying an exempt international slot. The situation has created an open spot on the practice squad. Currently, the only cornerback listed is Greedy Vance Jr., who specializes in the nickel position rather than the boundary corner position. This gap seems less like an oversight and more like a strategic placeholder.
Related: The Raiders’ WR problem is suddenly hard to ignore
Richardson is unlikely to be claimed, given his limited snaps and special teams-heavy resume. If he clears waivers, as expected, a return to Las Vegas on the practice squad is plausible, if not likely. It would be a smaller role than he has held before, but for a player facing a thin market elsewhere, it may be the most realistic path back onto an NFL field.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images