Tommy to the Raiders

[Bobcatsinmso]

I hope some other team picks him up, screw the darth faders.

[technoCat]

He likely wasn’t doing enough in practice to warrant more playing time. It was always more likely he’d make the practice squad, he’s a developmental player. This isn’t uncommon.

But they didn't let him practice either. Must have failed in the simulator...

[SCVBobcat]

He likely wasn’t doing enough in practice to warrant more playing time. It was always more likely he’d make the practice squad, he’s a developmental player. This isn’t uncommon.

But they didn't let him practice either. Must have failed in the simulator...

There was a stretch of OTA's where Tommy stood in the receiver line and watched - not very conducive to development. I hope he signs with another team's practice squad instead of the Raiders. In a perfect world, it will be a team that keeps him at WR / returner, but also has a plan to use him occasionally in special formations where he might run or pass. I think he could help a team out that way, esp. a team without a great starting QB...

[nanacat]

The Raiders cut Cam Miller as well. Poor roster management not to get your six rounders onto the team IMO

This is what I was thinking. Especially when you pretty much give Tommy 0 chance to show what he can do in the preseason?

My thoughts too! They hardly played him in the preseason so how can he find any rhythm? Hopefully another team can manage his talent better and give him a chance. He certainly needs time to develop, so practice squad does make sense.

Question though... what is the difference between being waived and being cut? Aren't they essentially the same thing? Excuse my NFL ignorance

I believe if you are a player with four or less years in the league that is waved AND another team picks you up within (24 hours ? Think it used to be longer) they honor/assume your original contract. If you are a veteran of over four years and cut, you are free to immediately negotiate a new contract with other teams or something like that.

Thanks!

[catzz]

He likely wasn’t doing enough in practice to warrant more playing time. It was always more likely he’d make the practice squad, he’s a developmental player. This isn’t uncommon.

But they didn't let him practice either. Must have failed in the simulator...

There was a stretch of OTA's where Tommy stood in the receiver line and watched - not very conducive to development. I hope he signs with another team's practice squad instead of the Raiders. In a perfect world, it will be a team that keeps him at WR / returner, but also has a plan to use him occasionally in special formations where he might run or pass. I think he could help a team out that way, esp. a team without a great starting QB...

Agree with all of this. If he was wants to keep pushing for the NFL he will make it. If he chooses a different route I’d also respect it. I don’t know the stats, but most FCS guys don’t make the initial 53 man roster and take the long route. Singleton comes to mind…

[BelligerentBobcat]

He likely wasn’t doing enough in practice to warrant more playing time. It was always more likely he’d make the practice squad, he’s a developmental player. This isn’t uncommon.

But they didn't let him practice either. Must have failed in the simulator...

There was a stretch of OTA's where Tommy stood in the receiver line and watched - not very conducive to development. I hope he signs with another team's practice squad instead of the Raiders. In a perfect world, it will be a team that keeps him at WR / returner, but also has a plan to use him occasionally in special formations where he might run or pass. I think he could help a team out that way, esp. a team without a great starting QB...

Let’s be real. None of us were there. The idea that a team would draft a player and purposefully not even try to develop said player is so nonsensical that it really doesn’t deserve a response.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Sorry for Tommy — but I guess not terribly surprised. When they signed Amari Cooper that kind of ended it for Tommy. For now. Cooper is going into his 11th year — won’t last forever but he’ll might be a good mentor because their receivers are relatively young.

As for Tommy’s body of work in the preseason games, I’m afraid that first attempt at a punt return didn’t help him. He seemed pretty hesitant on deciding what he should do and then really got lit up. He did avoid mishandling it and giving up a TD opportunity.

After that, I thought he got a reasonable amount of plays considering they were playing their starters a lot in the first two quarters. The games were fairly low-scoring and didn’t provide many kickoff return opportunities.

The 43-yarder was pretty sporty. He had no more loose ball issues and his returns were about as good as the blocking provided. He passed up 6-7 players each time.

He handled punts cleanly after the first one which was pretty great composure.

I know he made an excellent cover play with shedding his blocker and moving across to get the solo tackle on Bergen.

Receiver was harder for me analyze but he caught his first pass with the defender all over him. The latest one over the middle was one to two steps late getting to him. If he catches that in full stride it looked like he had leverage and may have been able to turn it up. When he had to hesitate there was no YAC chance. He blocked up well on the outside making it easy for Cam Miller to run for a first down.

Am I the only one that thought that he looked just a bit small on the field? Not his build, but his height — at almost even 6 feet there are a lot of taller players. The Raiders have one receiver who is 6-4 and they had him at 4.37 40-yard or something well under 4.4.

I was hopeful just because of the intangibles. He’s a guy that you’d love to have on your team. He’s not done yet.

Congratulations to Daniel Hardy and Ty Okada! Great news. If a Bobcat wants into the NFL, then play defense — reference Troy Andersen. Hope he can recover. Falcons clearly want him.

[GoodTimesAllTheTime]

He likely wasn’t doing enough in practice to warrant more playing time. It was always more likely he’d make the practice squad, he’s a developmental player. This isn’t uncommon.

But they didn't let him practice either. Must have failed in the simulator...

There was a stretch of OTA's where Tommy stood in the receiver line and watched - not very conducive to development. I hope he signs with another team's practice squad instead of the Raiders. In a perfect world, it will be a team that keeps him at WR / returner, but also has a plan to use him occasionally in special formations where he might run or pass. I think he could help a team out that way, esp. a team without a great starting QB...

Let’s be real. None of us were there. The idea that a team would draft a player and purposefully not even try to develop said player is so nonsensical that it really doesn’t deserve a response.

No one is saying they purposely tried to sabotage his development. But it’s totally reasonable to think that the Raiders front office and coaching staff were misaligned on the goals for this season. Drafting Tommy only makes sense if you’re willing to get him reps and go through growing pains with him learning a totally new position. Signing Amari Cooper, on the other hand, is a short term move. I think it’s totally plausible that the Raiders, one of the worst run teams over the last 20 years, don’t have a great player development program or strategy.

[tetoncat]

He likely wasn’t doing enough in practice to warrant more playing time. It was always more likely he’d make the practice squad, he’s a developmental player. This isn’t uncommon.

But they didn't let him practice either. Must have failed in the simulator...

There was a stretch of OTA's where Tommy stood in the receiver line and watched - not very conducive to development. I hope he signs with another team's practice squad instead of the Raiders. In a perfect world, it will be a team that keeps him at WR / returner, but also has a plan to use him occasionally in special formations where he might run or pass. I think he could help a team out that way, esp. a team without a great starting QB...

Let’s be real. None of us were there. The idea that a team would draft a player and purposefully not even try to develop said player is so nonsensical that it really doesn’t deserve a response.

Tell that to the Shedeur Sanders fans.

[DriftCat]

Just a thought and I could very well be wrong. It seems the Raiders had Tommy pegged for the practice squad from the beginning and that could be a reason for the lack of reps.

One, they didn’t want other teams to see too much of him and two, they signed him to a $4.4MM contract which any team claiming him off waivers would assume. It seemed to me at the time it was a pretty good contract for a 6th round pick switching positions….but I’ve never paid much attention to NFL contracts. Might have been part of their plan to keep other teams from grabbing him.

[nanacat]

He likely wasn’t doing enough in practice to warrant more playing time. It was always more likely he’d make the practice squad, he’s a developmental player. This isn’t uncommon.

But they didn't let him practice either. Must have failed in the simulator...

There was a stretch of OTA's where Tommy stood in the receiver line and watched - not very conducive to development. I hope he signs with another team's practice squad instead of the Raiders. In a perfect world, it will be a team that keeps him at WR / returner, but also has a plan to use him occasionally in special formations where he might run or pass. I think he could help a team out that way, esp. a team without a great starting QB...

Let’s be real. None of us were there. The idea that a team would draft a player and purposefully not even try to develop said player is so nonsensical that it really doesn’t deserve a response.

No one is saying they purposely tried to sabotage his development. But it’s totally reasonable to think that the Raiders front office and coaching staff were misaligned on the goals for this season. Drafting Tommy only makes sense if you’re willing to get him reps and go through growing pains with him learning a totally new position. Signing Amari Cooper, on the other hand, is a short term move. I think it’s totally plausible that the Raiders, one of the worst run teams over the last 20 years, don’t have a great player development program or strategy.

Carroll didn't sign Tommy, the GM did, and this point is highly likely as stated. As far as player development, they've got a new head coach, who may prioritize player development, or not. Wasn't ever a Seahawks fan, only knew Carroll as their coach but no idea of his coaching philosophy. From all I read, it sounded like they knew Tommy was a project who needed time, but clearly they went for the short term access by signing Cooper. That wasn't good for Tommy. Hopefully he'll get picked up by a team willing to develop him, or the Raiders will put him on their practice squad. We'll know more by the end of the day I guess. Hoping for all the best for Tommy. He'd be an asset to any team in multiple ways.

[MSU01]

Just a thought and I could very well be wrong. It seems the Raiders had Tommy pegged for the practice squad from the beginning and that could be a reason for the lack of reps.

One, they didn’t want other teams to see too much of him and two, they signed him to a $4.4MM contract which any team claiming him off waivers would assume. It seemed to me at the time it was a pretty good contract for a 6th round pick switching positions….but I’ve never paid much attention to NFL contracts. Might have been part of their plan to keep other teams from grabbing him.

I think it's entirely possible that the Raiders envisioned when they drafted Tommy that he may need to spend a year or two on the Practice Squad before being ready to join the 53-man roster. That's a major reason why practice squads exist, to give promising players who aren't quite ready yet more time to develop while working in your facility and with your team's coaching staff. The gamble they're taking of course is that there isn't another team out there that likes him enough to claim him on waivers and add him to their 53-man roster. His contract value doesn't have anything to do with it though, as NFL rookie contract values are fixed based on the player's draft position. I also doubt they were intentionally trying to "hide" Tommy by not playing him much in the preseason, he was scouted by many other teams other than the Raiders so they all know what his potential can be.

[TomCat88]

Just a thought and I could very well be wrong. It seems the Raiders had Tommy pegged for the practice squad from the beginning and that could be a reason for the lack of reps.

One, they didn’t want other teams to see too much of him and two, they signed him to a $4.4MM contract which any team claiming him off waivers would assume. It seemed to me at the time it was a pretty good contract for a 6th round pick switching positions….but I’ve never paid much attention to NFL contracts. Might have been part of their plan to keep other teams from grabbing him.

I think it's entirely possible that the Raiders envisioned when they drafted Tommy that he may need to spend a year or two on the Practice Squad before being ready to join the 53-man roster. That's a major reason why practice squads exist, to give promising players who aren't quite ready yet more time to develop while working in your facility and with your team's coaching staff. The gamble they're taking of course is that there isn't another team out there that likes him enough to claim him on waivers and add him to their 53-man roster. His contract value doesn't have anything to do with it though, as NFL rookie contract values are fixed based on the player's draft position. I also doubt they were intentionally trying to "hide" Tommy by not playing him much in the preseason, he was scouted by many other teams other than the Raiders so they all know what his potential can be.

Once I heard he wasn't getting reps and then played very sparingly in the first two games I figured they were either doing what you're saying and just going to let him develop on the practice squad so as not to take up reps as the got ready for the season knowing he wasn't going to play. OR they saw something that told them he's just not going to develop and limited his reps. We'll see how hard they try to get him on the practice squad as that will probably tell us all we need to know.

Before the draft some were saying that the Raiders were acting like they weren't interested in him in hopes that he would fall far enough for them to merit drafting him. They didn't want their interest to cause someone to take him sooner. I'm not sure how valid that story is, but if it's true, it's really weird knowing what we know now.

Another thing on the promising side is that he had a lot of scouts at his pro day that were very impressed with his performance. I would think a worst-case scenario is another tryout next year with a different team. He could also go the CFL route. I'd love to see him try to develop as a safety, instead of a WR. I think he's built better for that, and I think he has the mentality for it.

[Mtcatfan]

Don’t the practice squad players make like 300K per year?

[MSU01]

Don’t the practice squad players make like 300K per year?

This year's practice squad salary is $13K per week for a rookie.

[BelligerentBobcat]

He likely wasn’t doing enough in practice to warrant more playing time. It was always more likely he’d make the practice squad, he’s a developmental player. This isn’t uncommon.

But they didn't let him practice either. Must have failed in the simulator...

There was a stretch of OTA's where Tommy stood in the receiver line and watched - not very conducive to development. I hope he signs with another team's practice squad instead of the Raiders. In a perfect world, it will be a team that keeps him at WR / returner, but also has a plan to use him occasionally in special formations where he might run or pass. I think he could help a team out that way, esp. a team without a great starting QB...

Let’s be real. None of us were there. The idea that a team would draft a player and purposefully not even try to develop said player is so nonsensical that it really doesn’t deserve a response.

No one is saying they purposely tried to sabotage his development. But it’s totally reasonable to think that the Raiders front office and coaching staff were misaligned on the goals for this season. Drafting Tommy only makes sense if you’re willing to get him reps and go through growing pains with him learning a totally new position. Signing Amari Cooper, on the other hand, is a short term move. I think it’s totally plausible that the Raiders, one of the worst run teams over the last 20 years, don’t have a great player development program or strategy.

He's a developmental prospect that they'll develop on the practice squad. He was never going to get a lot of playing time as a rookie, that was just an incredibly unreasonable expectation. But again, if we're going to take it as gospel that he didn't get practice reps because somebody said that's what they saw from a very limited viewing of one practice, then there really isn't much of a logical conversation to be had.

I'm not exactly defending the Raiders, or thinking they're incredibly smart, but it's a completely new management group over there. I don't think I would hold the mistakes of the prior GM and coaches over this new group quite yet.

[coloradocat]

Cutting the preseason back to 3 games, the rules curtailing the kicking game and being drafted by a team with a new coaching staff were all things that were going to be difficult for a player like Tommy to overcome. The Raiders know he's not ready to contribute on the field at this point, or at least not better than anyone else can, so they likely figured they'd give him a couple chances but not enough for another team to grab him.

The idea that trading for a starting WR pushed Tommy off the roster seems ridiculous, especially considering that he's mostly been an observer of the position in camp.

[TomCat88]

NFL teams can announce and begin signing players to their practice squads starting on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. ET. This date marks the end of the waiver claim period for players released during the final roster cutdown to the 53-man roster,

[coloradocat]

If Tommy makes it to the practice squad he'll be wearing a new number. Amari Cooper took 19 after Tommy was released. #4 is currently available.

[RangeCat]

Original Twitter post was deleted by creator. Reason why I original posted that it was "allegedly".
Guy had reported correctly on every other transaction.