The Las Vegas Raiders 2023 training camp starts on July 25 (July 20 for rookies) at Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada. That is where head coach Josh McDaniels and company will figure out the Raiders roster for this season that will help the team get back in the NFL playoff picture after a disappointing 6-11 campaign last season. This means there will be some tough or surprising cuts before the team kicks off Week 1 vs. the Denver Broncos, and players like tight end OJ Howard, running back Brandon Bolden, and defensive tackle Jerry Tillery could be on the chopping block.

TE OJ Howard

The Raiders traded star tight end Darren Waller this offseason, but the TE room at Raiders training camp will still be crowded. Currently, the team has Austin Hooper, rookie second-round pick Michael Mayer, Jesper Horsted, OJ Howard, John Shenker, and Cole Fotheringham on the Raiders roster.

With all due respect to Shenker and Fotheringham, this is a four-person race for what is likely a three-person position group.

Mayer, the former Notre Dame TE, was an absolute steal in the second round. He was the first TE off the board in many (if not most) mock drafts this year, yet he fell to Round 2. He will be on the roster for sure and could win the starting job in camp.

Hooper is a solid veteran tight end Las Vegas signed on a one-year deal this offseason. He had 41 catches for 444 yards and two touchdowns last season for the Tennessee Titans. He will start camp as TE1 in all likelihood and will make the team as well.

That leaves Howard and Horsted as the two battling it out for the final Raiders roster spot at the position. Howard is the bigger name with the more impressive pedigree (as the 2017 No. 19 overall pick), but he hasn’t produced at a high level and only had 10 catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns last season.

On the other hand, Horstead is a former wide receiver from Princeton with just 13 catches for 127 yards and three TDs in his career. However, at 26, Horstead is a modern tight end prospect who has a of upside and could be ready to put it all together in his fourth season. With a solid camp, the young TE could cost OJ Howard his job.

RB Brandon Bolden

When Josh McDaniels came over from the New England Patriots, he brought several of his former players with him to help change the Raiders’ culture.

That didn’t work all that well, and the head coach struggled last season. It’s certainly not all these former Patriots’ fault, but they didn’t do enough to create many wins last season.

One of these players is RB Brandon Bolden. The two-time Super Bowl champ came to Las Vegas as a third-down back but ended up not contributing much at all on the field. His final stat line in 16 games was 17 carries, 66 yards, nine catches, 67 yards, and four TDs.

The Raiders roster simply has too many (younger) talented backs in the fold. In addition to the team’s star, Josh Jacobs, there is Zamir “Zeus” White, Brittain Brown, Ameer Abdullah, Austin Walter, and Sincere McCormick.

White should be Jacobs’ primary backup this season, and Abdullah has a lot of the same well-rounded skill set that Bolden has but is three years younger. After that, Brown and McCormick are both young players the team may try and keep to stash on the practice squad.

Bolden can still be a useful player in the league, even at 33, but the numbers just don’t work out for him heading into Raiders training camp this offseason.

DT Jerry Tillery

The Raiders defensive line was a massive disappointment last season. Outside of Maxx Crosby, free-agent acquisitions DE Chandler Jones and DT Bilal Nichols were massive disappointments.

The defensive line got so bad, the team snatched up former first-round pick Jerry Tillery when the Los Angeles Chargers cut him. Tillery had a good enough season that the Raiders re-signed him for 2023, but he could be a Raiders roster cut in training camp.

Las Vegas will likely keep four to five defensive tackles. Nichols is in the last year of his deal and has had good seasons before, so the team will likely give him one more chance. Plus, the team drafted two DTs in this year’s draft, Alabama’s Byron Young and Arizona State’s Nesta Jade Silvera.

Both youngsters could make the team, leaving just one or two spots for Tillery, Adam Butler, John Jenkins, Neil Farrell Jr., and Matthew Butler. At $2.6 million next season with another year left on his deal, Tillery could face the ax.