New Las Vegas Raiders’ front office and coaching staff continue to clear the locker room from the old regime’s players. According to multiple reports, the Raiders have decided to release their veteran running back Kenyan Drake.
Drake arrived in Las Vegas ahead of the 2021 season while the Raiders still had Jon Gruden as their head coach and Mike Mayock as a general manager. He initially signed a two-year, $14.5 million deal, which raised some eyebrows at the time, before restructuring the contract in March. Due to restructuring, the Raiders will absorb an $8 million cap hit in 2022 and 2023 combined after releasing the 28-year-old.
While the Raiders haven’t made the move official just yet, Drake himself confirmed the news in a chat with The Associated Press. According to the Alabama product, he was informed about his release by the general manager Dave Ziegler on Monday.
“He let me know how they were planning on moving forward, how really uncustomary it was for him to tell me himself, and that was just a testament to the respect he has for me as a player, and as a man,” Drake explained.
The Raiders will now move on with former first-round pick Josh Jacobs as their starting running back while also having a mix of veterans and rookies in their RB room to back him up.
Kenyan Drake spent the first three years of his career with the Miami Dolphins before being traded to the Arizona Cardinals halfway through 2019 camping. He had a career year the following season, rushing for 955 yards and 10 touchdowns while also catching 25 passes for 137 yards.
Drake failed to repeat these kinds of performances in the Raiders’ jersey and finished the last season with 254 yards and two TDs. He was also limited to just 12 games due to a broken ankle.
