The Las Vegas Raiders were hoping Joshua Miles could provide depth up front on offense, but now he's retiring.
The Las Vegas Raider are making some under-the-radar moves as draft day approaches, and the latest involves placing offensive lineman Joshua Miles on the reserve/retired list, according to a report from Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk that referenced the NFL’s daily transaction list.
Miles was selected in the seventh round by the Arizona Cardinals back in 2019, and the Morgan State product was primarily a depth piece, appearing in 17 games for the Cardinals before playing one game for the New York Giants in 2024. He also spent time with the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns last year, but Miles didn’t appear in any regular season games.
He joined the Raiders practice squad back in December, then re-signed with the team in January. This move by the Raiders means he will no longer count against the 90-day roster, Alper added, but the Raiders will retain his rights if he decides to return to action.
If his decision to retire sticks, Miles could be joining an ever-growing list of younger players who walk away from the game while they’re still able to play. This is still tbd, but the Raiders clearly aren’t willing to wait for players who don’t want to compete for a job when OTAs start and training camp opens, especially since the Raiders are doing a serious makeover on offense.
The big move so far is signing center Tyler Linderbaum during free agency, and the Raiders are also expected to have left tackle Kolton Miller back healthy after he suffered high ankle sprain that turned out to be a stress fracture. Las Vegas is still moving linemen around beyond those two, so no one knows what the final configuration is going to be at this point.
Right now the depth chart has Spencer Burford and Jackson Powers-Johnson as the guards, with DJ Glaze listed at right tackle. Glaze’s position could be in jeopardy going forward, however, as he was one of many Las Vegas lineman who had some rough moments last year.
The depth pieces currently include the links of Jordan Meredith, Will Putnam, Antonio Mafi and Layden Robinson, but this is clearly a work in progress. The Raiders will almost certainly draft for offensive line depth next week, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility for them to add a lineman with a higher pick, either. The offensive line was the weakest position group of the team last year, so there’s plenty of work that needs to be done.