Raiders make MULTIPLE moves... This has MAJOR implications| Las Vegas Raiders News

He ran a 4-30-40, he led all of college football in yards per catch, and the Raiders just finally let him loose. The Raiders have activated Deontay Thornton Jr. from injured reserve, and to make room, they cut a Las Vegas kid. And all of this happens in the middle of a four-game losing streak with Max Crosby's name back in trade rumors. So is Thornton Jr. the spark that the team needed right now, and did they cut? The wrong guy. We'll get into it in this video. But before we get into all of that, the new updates revolving around the Raiders and of course, Max Crosby, make sure to hit that subscribe button. We are currently at 1500 subscribers and we're so close to our goal of 2000 subscribers. And guys, I'm going to keep you updated on everything that's happening with the Las Vegas Raiders right here on Raiders Digest. Here's everything you need to know on the latest Raiders roster moves. Thornton has been activated, defensive tackle Jonah Lalu has been waived, and receiver Jamari Thrash released from the practice squad. Thornton hurt his hamstring in training camp and went on the IR originally on August 31st. He was back at practice on October 7th, and the Raiders waited until one day before his 21-day window closed to activate him. Clint Kuback said last week that he's making big progress and he's done a lot of really good things in practice. Before the move, Kuback said it was a decision they didn't have to make until Wednesday, so they took it right down to the last minute to the wire. And Thornton came out and said that this new system feels really like his first year all over again. Now, for some Raiders fans, that might actually be a little scary to hear because his first year didn't exactly go to plan. And he's not the only receiver coming back as well. Jack Beck's return window opened on Monday as well after his broken forearm. So within just a couple of weeks, this receiver room could look completely different from the one that just lost four straight games. But here's why Raiders fans have been waiting on this guy. The Raiders took him in the fourth round, 108th overall in 2025. He started at Oregon. Transferred to Tennessee, and in 2024, he turned into the scariest deep threat in the SEC. In his last year at Tennessee, he caught 26 for 661 yards and 6 touchdowns. That's 25.4 yards every time he touched it, the best in the entire FBS. He had 6 catches and 50 yards or more that season. He's also 6'5", and he runs a 430. You cannot teach that type of stuff. Now, his rookie year, 10 catches, 135 yards, no touchdowns in 15 games played. And he was on 45% of the offensive snaps with 30 targets all season. Look at this receiver room. Trey Tucker has 474 receiving yards. The next wide receiver is Cody White, and he has 112. Brock Bowers and Ashton Gentry are carrying the passing game, so the door is wide open right now for a deep threat. Even if he's wide receiver five on Sunday, one deep ball against the Jets, and this can be a completely different vibe and conversation next week. Now, the other side of this move, and it's a tough one. Jonah Lalu is a Las Vegas native. He went to Centennial High School. The Colts drafted him in the 7th round in 2024, they cut him, and the Raiders claimed him the very next day. Last season, he started in 15 games with 51 tackles and 4 sacks, tied for 3rd on the team. Now, taking it to this year, 5 games played, 0 starts, 5 tackles, and he was a healthy scratch against the Rams. Sam Warren said it best in The Athletic this morning, and he called it a disappointing day for the Las Vegas native. And now the hometown kid is looking to play somewhere else. For any team that does claim him, it's pretty cheap, about $657,000 for the rest of the season, according to Jordan Schultz. And at the end of the day, you do want results, of course, but it is a sad day when you have to cut a player because you're not seeing results, and that player is a guy that grew up in the city the team is based in. RaidersWire also went on to say that it was telling that it was Lalu that got the axe. The Raiders scouting lab thinks that somebody is going to claim him or that he lands on a practice squad somewhere. And honestly, best wishes to him. And I hope he gets a shot somewhere else. But cutting a defensive tackle doesn't necessarily fix a problem. One of the problems with this team is the defense. The run defense gives up 143.6 rushing yards per game. And that is 30th in the NFL They allow 5 yards every time the other team runs it, the second most in the league. Against the Rams on Sunday, it was 199 rushing yards for the Rams versus 49 for the Raiders. And the Raiders lost that one 35-21, and it was 23-6 at halftime. The Raiders went one for five in the red zone in that game. You don't beat a Super Bowl favorite like the Rams when you get to the red zone five times and you come away with one touchdown. And over these four losses, the defense has given up almost 36 points every single game. And that adds up to four straight losses against the Chiefs, the Patriots, the Bills, and then most recently, the Rams. The Raiders started off hot 3-0 and now they are 3-4. After Sunday, Nakobe Dean came out and said we can't be all individual mercenaries out there. And Crosby said that they know as a team they can be a lot better and they have to find solutions. And here's another stat that should probably worry you, although... We already knew what the expectations were for this team, but the teams that the Raiders beat are 3-13 in their other games, and the teams that the Raiders lost to are 13-9. So the Raiders are third in the AFC West, two and a half games behind the Chiefs, and only ahead of the Chargers that have not won a game yet. The offense is still scoring, though, 27 points a game, sixth in the league, and it's the defense that does have to wake up a little bit. Even on offense, though, it's not the greatest. The Raiders made Tyler Linderbaum the highest paid center in the NFL this offseason. And Justin Churchill says his all 22 film has been bad three weeks in a row. And they've been held under 75 rushing yards in Four straight games, which is a lot to put on Kirk Cousins, which brings us now to Max Crosby, because when you lose four in a row, everything's on the table. And of course, everyone is revisiting some trade rumors from the summer and now some new trade reports. NFL rumors on Twitter reported the Cowboys called the Raiders about his availability. But Adam Schefter did chime in and say that the trade talks have lost a little bit of steam and he doesn't actually think that anyone is going to be paying the two first round picks again. And if you remember the Ravens deal that did actually have two first round picks included died in March when he failed the physical. His cap hit this year is $35.8 million and he signed through 2029. And if there's going to be a trade, the trade deadline is November 10th and that is now 13 days away. Stephen Mack did the math. Crosby makes about $1.65 million per game. And after Sunday, there's about $16.7 million left on his money that he's owed for this season. And Crosby has just two sacks in seven games this year. That's not the Crosby that we know. And it's definitely hurting his trade value a little more at this time. Now it's interesting. If you look at the The market back in March It was two first round picks, but now you're looking at it and the rumor with the Cowboys is that it could be one first round pick, but you're definitely not getting any type of offer that you're getting earlier this year. So it really depends what the Raiders want to do. What's his value to this organization? And in the spirit of Halloween week, here's a little bit of a ghost story. Christian Wilkins' dead money of $29.7 million finally comes off the books after this season, and that is per all things Raiders. And from another perspective, they said that that could put the Raiders at $55 to $62 million in cap space. So some people are speculating that that's real money that you could use to build around Crosby if you do not trade him. So all in all, activating Thornton is the right call. Very excited to see what he can do. A lot of fans are actually excited about that move. The offense needs a deep... threat and he's one of the fastest guys on the roster. Cutting Lau Lu kind of hurts. It's a good story. Hometown kid, but it tells you that the coaches have already moved on to a few other players. Sunday at New York against the Jets, they are two and five. This is being considered with where the team is at and losing four in a row, an absolute must win. And if they don't, the Max Crosby rumors are going to be insane next week. If Thornton gets two to three deep looks against the Jets, then we're going to know right away if it was worth it or not. And there's a lot going on with this team right now. A lot of fans are calling for Mendoza to finally get a start. And there's been a little inkling of that this week from the head coach. But we don't know for sure yet when that is going to happen. So there's a lot going on with this team. They're activating players from IR. They are talking about trading Max Crosby still. Fans want to see Mendoza. Do they trade? But let me know in the comments below. Should the Raiders trade Max Crosby or should they keep him? I'm sure it's going to be a very spirited debate down there. But let me know how you feel about all of that in the comments below. My name is Darius Dominguez. This is Raiders Digest. And I'll see you guys in the next video.