Raiders provide roster clarity by trading Mullens, releasing Drake

By Case Keefer (contact)

Published Monday, Aug. 22, 2022 | 9:34 a.m.

Updated Monday, Aug. 22, 2022 | 2:30 p.m.

A pair of the most intriguing offensive positional battles of Raiders’ training camp now appear to have concluded. Las Vegas traded backup quarterback Nick Mullens and released depth running back Kenyan Drake on Monday to give a clearer picture how the roster will look going into the regular season.

Fourth-year veteran Jarrett Stidham looks like the team’s backup quarterback to Derek Carr. Stidham, who was acquired in a trade with the New England Patriots this offseason, took an early lead to win the spot over Mullens, who was signed in free agency, and never surrendered.

The Raiders swapped Mullens for a conditional seventh-round pick with the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings announced the swap via twitter Monday morning.

In the afternoon, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that the Raiders were cutting ties with Drake. That means their running back room will almost certainly consist of Josh Jacobs, Zamir White, Brandon Bolden and Ameer Abdullah in addition to fullback Jakob Johnson.

Most favored Drake, who signed a 2-year $11 million contract two years ago, to make the team over Abdullah going into training camp but the latter outplayed him in practice.

Abdullah also flashed speed and playmaking ability in the Hall of Fame Game, while Drake was unable to get anything going despite appearing in all three preseason contests so far.

Mullens had been serviceable in the preseason, but he had come off the bench in all of them to relieve Stidham who’s produced more explosive plays. Unless coach Josh McDaniels makes the unexpected decision to give Carr a series or two in Friday night’s preseason finale against the Patriots at Allegiant Stadium, Stidham is expected to start again.

He should also get plenty of action against his former team in a pair of joint practices on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Raiders’ team headquarters in Henderson. The Raiders had the day off Monday after Saturday's preseason win at the Dolphins.

While Drake will be hoping to catch on with another team, Mullens could end up as the backup to Kirk Cousins in Minnesota. Before acquiring Mullens, the Vikings had a similar two-man competition to the Raiders with Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond vying for the second-string job. Both appeared in Las Vegas two weeks ago when the Raiders beat the Vikings 26-20.

The Raiders still have three quarterbacks on the roster with undrafted rookie free agent Chase Garbers to supplement Carr and Stidham. Garbers has shown some flashes of promise in practice but is more of a developmental project and potential practice-squad player.

He doesn’t appear to be any real threat to Stidham for the second quarterback spot. The veterans Abdullah and Bolden seem like pretty safe bets to make the team, but a pair of other running backs — rookie Brittain Brown and veteran Austin Walter — have played well in the preseason.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or