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Las Vegas Raiders helmet.
The Las Vegas Raiders are gearing up for the 2026 NFL Draft, but just lost some depth on the offensive line. According to the NFL’s transaction wire, the team has placed veteran offensive lineman Joshua Miles on the Reserve/Retired List.
That effectively means that he’s made the decision to retire from the NFL. Miles joined the Raiders late last season as a member of the practice squad. He didn’t take any snaps for the team, but they did sign him to a Reserve/Future contract after the season.
The former seventh-round pick came into the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2019. Throughout his career, he has played in 18 games, but hasn’t made any starts.
Miles is only 30, so there’s a chance he could still decide to try to play, but considering the lack of playing time he has seen in his career, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he decided to focus on other career paths.
In addition to the Cardinals and the Raiders, Miles also spent time with the Atlanta Falcons, the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears and the Cleveland Browns.
Is OL Still A Major Need for Raiders?
The Raiders may have had the worst offensive line in the NFL last season. The team led the league in sacks allowed and had the worst rushing offense.
This led to them giving a massive contract to Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum. While that solves arguably the biggest need on the offensive line, it doesn’t solve every issue.
The team still has major question marks at guard and right tackle. Left tackle Kolton Miller and Linderbaum are the only guaranteed starters. Jackson Powers-Johnson has a good chance to start at one of the guard spots, but the other guard spot will be an open competition.
DJ Glaze has looked solid at times at right tackle, but he hasn’t been consistent enough to lock down that job. The Raiders might want to see what they have in some young players before they start dedicating high draft picks to the offensive line this offseason. That said, if the offensive line still has issues, it’s difficult to see how the offense is going to move the ball.
Raiders Believe in Drafting OL
It’s rare for a player like Linderbaum to actually hit free agency, so it made sense for the Raiders to spend big on him, but most of the time, big-ticket offensive linemen free agent signings don’t pan out.
General manager John Spytek would rather draft and develop the position.
“There are good tackles, but you’re typically not signing a guy you’re just going to plug in and play left tackle. That would be crazy,” Spytek said at the NFL’s Annual Meeting. “You’ve got to draft those guys and develop them and re-sign them. That’s the formula. We looked at a lot of different guys and ultimately felt pretty comfortable with the three guys we have on the roster and who are in the building right now.
“Then, we’ve got 10 picks in the draft and we have an opportunity to build from that point too, which is the best way to win.”
Austin Boyd has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd
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