Oakland Raiders are moving on from wide receiver Jordy Nelson and quarterback AJ McCarron. According to ESPN, Raiders decided to cut both players on Thursday.
This move comes after Oakland spent big on free agents this week, signing WR Tyrell Williams, Trent Brown and safety Lamarcus Joyner. They also traded for Pittsburgh Steelers’ star wideout Antonio Brown and immediately restructured his deal in order to give him more money. In these deals, Raiders committed to paying more than $105 million in guaranteed money.
Jordy Nelson joined the Oakland Raiders in 2018 on a two-year, $15 million deal. Although he had a solid last season, with 63 receptions for 739 yards and three touchdowns, Nelson found himself surplus after the team signed two more talented and younger WRs.
AJ McCarron, on the other hand, was up for $3 million base salary in the 2019 and would have $5 million cap hit. For a quarterback who completed just one of three passes in the last year as a backup to starter Derek Carr, this was too much of a price to pay. McCarron joined the Raiders in 2018 as well, when the team gave up the fifth-round pick to Buffalo Bills in exchange for his services.
