Germaine Pratt‘s brief tenure with the Raiders has come to an end. The veteran linebacker has been released, head coach Pete Carroll announced on Monday. 
When speaking about the decision, Carroll said (via ESPN’s Ryan McFadden) the team simply decided to move in a different direction. That is a clear indication Pratt was no longer in Vegas’ plans for the year. Indeed, the 29-year-old did not travel with the Raiders for their Week 5 game despite being healthy, as noted by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Pratt was long seen as a cut candidate for the Bengals this offseason, and in June he was let go. That marked an end to the former third-rounder’s Cincinnati stint, one which spanned the first six years of his career. Pratt was not on the open market for long, as he inked a Raiders deal shortly after his release. That one-year pact contained $3.75MM in guarantees, and the team will take on that amount as a dead money charge.
This release will create just over $1MM in cap space, adding to the roughly $7.6MM in funds the Raiders already had prior to this move. It will be interesting to see if Vegas pursues a free agent or trade acquisition at the linebacker position to fill Pratt’s roster spot. Failing that, internal options will be counted on the rest of the way.
Pratt was inactive yesterday but he served as a starter for each of the Raiders’ first four games, logging a snap share of 88% during that time. Replacing a workload of that size could prove to be difficult, although the speed with which this decision has been made demonstrates Vegas’ willingness to move on early in the campaign. Pratt posted 25 tackles and a pair of pass deflections in September.
Given today’s move, the NC State product is once again a free agent. Pratt has 100 appearances and 92 starts to his name. He will thus offer plenty of experience to any interested teams, although a backup gig could be in store provided a deal is worked out allowing him to continue playing in 2025.