After hiring a head coach and a general manager, the Las Vegas Raiders will have a lot to sort through in the 2025 offseason. Not only do they have to make decisions on their own free agents and outside free agents, but the team must decide if there are any players it wants to cut.
The Raiders are in no means desperate to start cutting players. After all, Las Vegas has a projected $92.5 million in cap space to work with, which is the second-most in the NFL, according to Over the Cap.
But, that doesn't mean they won't cut guys loose. In a recent article suggesting cut candidates for the Raiders, Bleacher Report tabbed center Andre James as one of them. Here's what B/R's scouting department said regarding the potential move:
Andre James doesn't generate a ton of cap savings. Only $1.4 million of his cap hit would come off the books if he's cut before June 1. That number would climb to $3.2 million if they wait until after June 1, which seems more likely at this point. Either way, it doesn't feel like James will be on the Raiders roster by the beginning of next season. Rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson took over the starting center job by the end of the season, and the new regime will not have a sense of loyalty to the veteran.
James is scheduled to be paid like a starting lineman, but it's hard seeing the Raiders not going with Powers-Johnson as the center moving forward. Waiting until June 2 or later could give them a little budget boost to post some third- or fourth-wave free agents.
When the Raiders drafted Powers-Johnson in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, then-general manager Tom Telesco called James to assure him the Oregon product wasn't coming in to take his job.
However, with Telesco no longer in Vegas, all bets are off and there's no telling what the new head coach and general manager will want to do with JPJ, who played at both guard and center in 2024 and had a phenomenal rookie year.
Powers-Johnson was pushed into the center role in Week 9 after James got hurt, but he stuck in the role after James returned from injury and was a clear upgrade. Eventually, James was reinserted into the starting job for the final three contests, but that was because of injuries elsewhere upfront.
Overall, James was not able to replicate what he did in 2023, as he saw a decline in the quality of his play, both as a run-blocker and pass protector. It's possible James wasn't fully healthy, which could explain his decline in performance, but we can't say for sure. We would still consider him a starting-caliber lineman, though, but Powers-Johnson is clearly the better option at center at this point.
As Bleacher Report points out, cutting James pre-June 1 would cost $7.2 million in dead money while only saving $1.43 million. A post-June 1 cut would cost $5.5 million in dead money and net $3.15 in savings, according to Over the Cap.
But the Raiders should explore trading James if they want to move forward with Powers-Johnson at center. A starting-caliber center on a reasonable deal would garner a solid return in a trade, and trading him would save more money.
All that said, the Raiders may be keen on keeping James around, as cutting him and moving JPJ over to center full time would create a void at guard the Raiders would have to fill.
But keeping James should not preclude the Raiders from moving Powers-Johnson to center permanently. Perhaps Las Vegas could explore starting James at guard, although he doesn't have any snaps there during his career.
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