The Raiders did not wait for OTAs to start before reshaping the edges of the roster. Las Vegas signed WR Jonathan Brady on May 4, LB Cameron McGrone on May 11 and DT Benito Jones on May 13. Then Monday arrived, and the Raiders officially moved into Phase III of the offseason program.
Welcome to the football part
Phase III is when offseason work starts looking more like football. No live contact is allowed, but teams can run 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, which makes these signings more than transaction filler. They are camp-pressure moves arriving right as coaches get a better look at who can actually function in the system.
A big man for the middle
Jones is the most experienced addition. At 6-foot-1 and 335 pounds, he gives the Raiders another interior defensive lineman with real NFL snaps. He has played 71 career games with Miami and Detroit, including 38 starts.
The Raiders also waived/injured Brodric Martin in the corresponding move, which makes the message pretty clear: Las Vegas is still sorting through the middle of its defensive line.
Special teams are never minor
McGrone’s path is different. The former fifth-round pick has appeared in 27 career games, and his value starts on special teams. That matters for linebackers trying to win the back end of a roster.
May jobs are not won with name recognition. They are won by covering kicks, knowing assignments and giving coaches fewer reasons to look elsewhere.
The hometown return ticket
Brady brings the best local angle. The Bishop Gorman product returns home after helping Indiana win a national title, and his cleanest path may come as a returner. He averaged 16.5 yards per punt return last season, sixth-best in the FBS.
That kind of juice gets noticed fast in offseason work.
Depth today, decisions later
None of these moves are meant to shake the top of the roster. That is not the point. The Raiders are building competition before mandatory minicamp runs June 9-11.
Jones, McGrone and Brady are here to make the bottom of the roster harder to sort. Some May signings disappear by August. The ones who don’t usually make themselves impossible to ignore.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
