LAS VEGAS — The Raiders waived safety Johnathan Abram on Tuesday, adding to the growing list of recent first-round draft picks who are no longer with the club.
The team had trade discussions involving Abram, 26, before last week’s deadline but received no firm offers. His playing time had steadily decreased, and he had lost his starting job and was playing extensively on special teams. At 2-6, the Raiders also want to evaluate younger players, among them rookie safety Isaiah Pola-Mao.
It won’t be the final move the Raiders make on defense, if not this season certainly during the offseason as they try to populate their defensive roster with players who better fit coordinator Patrick Graham’s system and the culture being built by first-year general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels.
The defense has allowed the second-most points in the NFL and failed to protect two leads of 17-0 and one of 20-0, making it a major point of emphasis.
“When you come in, in year one, what you’re doing from the beginning until the end is evaluating,” Ziegler said. “And you’re figuring out what the fits are, what your strengths are as a team, what your needs are as a team. And so that was always going to be a big part of year one, and that’s going to continue to be a big part of year one.”
Abram, a former Mississippi State standout, was selected with the 27th pick in the 2019 draft, one of three first-rounders the Raiders had in what was supposed to be a draft that laid the foundation for the future.
Of the three, though, only running back Josh Jacobs has lived up to expectations. Abram and defensive end Cle Ferrell, selected fourth, never developed.
The Raiders didn’t pick up the fifth-year options on any of the three.
Four of the six first-round picks that former coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock made from 2019 to 2021 are no longer with the team. Abram, cornerback Damon Arnette and offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood were outright released, and wide receiver Henry Ruggs was cut after being involved in a DUI accident that killed a Las Vegas woman.
Arnette and Ruggs were drafted among the top-20 picks in 2020, and Leatherwood was the 17th pick in 2021. Arnette and 2020 third-round pick Bryan Edwards, who was traded to the Falcons in May, were selected with picks the Raiders acquired in the Khalil Mack trade. Abram was selected with the pick they received from the Cowboys in the Amari Cooper deal.
The Arnette and Leatherwood selections were criticized across the NFL as major reaches, as was the selection of Ferrell in the top five in 2019.
Their draft failures — which include the seven-player 2020 class, of which only backups John Simpson (guard) and Amik Robertson (cornerback) remain — are even more glaring knowing the Raiders could have taken standouts such as defensive end Brian Burns, cornerback Trevon Diggs, wide receiver Justin Jefferson and offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw. Instead, they reached for players such as Ferrell, Arnette and Leatherwood rather than drafting prudently by selecting more highly regarded players and ended up paying the price.
Abram’s career never took off as expected, but there is blame to go around. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the season opener of his rookie year. Upon returning in 2020, he struggled under then-defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, especially in pass coverage, which was never his strength.
Abram wasn’t the only defensive player to struggle that season. The defense was one of the NFL’s worst, and Guenther was fired as a result. The late-season move to fire Guenther began a run of four coordinators Abram played for in four seasons with the team.
This season, Abram had 44 total tackles (31 solo, 13 assisted) and one pass defended.
