Safety Keith Davis released

According to the team’s official website, newly acquired safety Keith Davis was given his release on Monday.

Oakland currently has four safeties on the roster with Tyvon Branch, Hiram Eugene

Some are saying this move is not surprising. But is heading into camp with the EXACT number of safeties the team has planned for the season really the smartest thing? What about competition? What about injuries? Michael Huff has been on the hot seat and Tyvon Branch has not been healthy in his time in Oakland. So why release Davis now?

Here is my take: Cable has made his favorites to start clear and Keith Davis didn’t like this. Davis thought coming in that he would be given an equal shot at the starting job and wasn’t getting the reps to prove it. So he voiced his displeasure and was released. The team likely has a few candidates in mind that would be willing to come in with no guarantees of getting an equal shot at starting.

There is, however, one guy that is not being mentioned in all of this. And that is rookie free agent Jerome Boyd. He played linebacker for Oregon but was thought to be too small for the position in the NFL. So the Raiders picked him up with the expressed interest in converting him to Safety. He is still on the team so that could suggest that the Raiders like what they see from him enough to let Davis walk. Boyd offers just the kind of insurance plan this team needs at this moment.

And now for news from a little bird.

Several media outlets have taken to a rumor from an unnamed source that rookie sixth round pick DE Stryker Sulak has been released as well. This news is surprising to say the least and makes little sense considering the rookie has not even had a chance to don pads yet. I am going to reserve judgement on speculation at this time and say nothing more about it. But I will keep you posted if anything concrete comes out.

, Michael Huff and rookie second-round pick Mike Mitchell. Branch is the odds on favorite to be one starter while Eugene and Mitchell will likely compete in training camp for the other spot.