Scott Davis Notables: Oakland Raiders Approach Deadline For Making Final Cuts to Set 53 Man Regular Season Roster

By Scott Davis: Blogs On Oakland Raiders and NFL

The Oakland Raiders have seen a lot of activity going on in this past off season right through the end of the preseason game schedule. Certainly more than most teams could imagine… or handle. to begin, there’s the ever looming question about where their new home will ultimately be. At the same time millions of dollars have been poured into the massive undertaking of building out a stellar new home practice and training facility that was pushed to completion on a incredibly expedited schedule- which they somehow accomplished. And then there’s the players. Head coach Jack Del Rio and GM Reggie McKenzie have been busting their backsides to bring in the right talent over the past year. To this point and all others they are working hard to put the Raiders back on the road to winning seasons. Their end game, one would easily assume, equates to much more than simply walking away at the end of the year with merely a winning record; it is rise up, compete fiercely in the NFL and to be prominent in post season play. Pretty standard stuff.

Tomorrow amounts to an early telltale sign of the result of all their hard work over the past year. It’s time for the new Raider-in-chief to assess his strategy and to move to the next phase. No doubt he faces some difficult decisions ahead as he must cut the roster down to the mandatory 53 players by the September 5th deadline. One particular matter should be very interesting to see play out. The big question is what Del Rio does about Sio Moore.

The future is not so clear, at least at this moment, for Sio Moore. His future with the Oakland Raiders could go one of two ways. Raiders with Moore. Raiders without Moore.

Anyone watching couldn’t help notice Moore had been strictly limited to playing on special teams in the Seahawks game.

Then all of a sudden halfway through the 4^th quarter he got some defensive playing time?

What gives?

Del Rio’s answer according to some reporters was that it was all Moore had earned! Whoa.

My sense is they will be keeping Moore. They know what he’s capable of and simply used the Seahawks game to drive home a strong point with Moore. Motivation is a tricky and highly nuanced thing in the NFL and different players quite simply require very different forms of inspiration. It’s up to the people at the top of the coaching/ organizational pyramid to figure it out.

There was no additional detail provided as to why Moore has been kept in a limited role? Crap practices? Lousy attitude? Poor player chemistry? Either way, his future and likelihood of remaining with the Oakland Raiders seems to be questionable to the many watching and waiting.

Does he stay? Get cut? Traded? We’ll soon find out…. Good Luck to Moore. It seems his future lies in his ability to see the forest for the trees. Hope he figures it out

Scott Davis produces and edits several blogs on sports and business and social media