The list of players who the Raiders released or waived in the final cuts who aren’t now back with the team is getting smaller by the day. Today they brought back two more players who were among their cuts — guard Alex Bars and wide receiver Keelan Cole — signing both to their practice squad.
With the practice squad at 16 players already, they made two corresponding moves. They released DE Zach VanValkenburg and placed recently added OL Vitaliy Gurman on practice squad injured reserve.
Bars and Cole were both veteran free agent signings this offseason. They might have been re-signed before this, but first had to see if another team might be interested in adding them to the active roster.
Both have starting experience in the NFL. Bars started 11 games the past two seasons in Chicago while Cole has started 34 games in five NFL seasons.
Their experience, plus having spent the offseason in the Raiders’ offense, makes them valuable as potential call ups during the season.
