Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie added a new crop of rookies to the roster in the draft and those arrivals have helped ease one of McKenzie’s first picks in Oakland off the team.
Linebacker Miles Burris took to Instagram on Monday to say farewell to the Raiders and said he got to live his dream by playing for the same team that he rooted for as a kid. Burris was a fourth-round pick of the team in 2012, which made him McKenzie’s second pick (offensive lineman Tony Bergstrom was the first) as the man in charge of personnel in Oakland because the team didn’t have first- or second-round picks that year.
The Raiders haven’t made an official announcement yet, but the addition of linebackers Neiron Ball and Ben Heeney in the draft meant that there was some overcrowding at the position. Burris started every game for the Raiders last year, recording 109 tackles, but signing Curtis Lofton as a free agent was a clear sign the Raiders wanted another answer in the middle of their defense.
The team is also parting ways with wide receiver James Jones as they reset their roster after the draft.