Raiders make a corresponding roster move after bad news haunts a player they desperately need in 2026
The Las Vegas Raiders decided to place Dont’e Thornton Jr. on IR, and then signed Segun Olubi and Cody White.
The Las Vegas Raiders made several roster moves following the finalization of their 53-man roster, and the most notable involves wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr. heading to injured reserve.
The Raiders also added wide receiver Cody White to the practice squad and re-signed linebacker Segun Olubi in corresponding moves as they continue to shape the back end of their roster heading into the 2026 regular season.
Thornton’s IR placement doesn’t end his season
A lot of people have questions about what this means for Thornton, and it’s worth clarifying the difference between his situation and what happened with defensive end Keyron Crawford.
When a player is placed on injured reserve before the initial 53-man roster without a designated-to-return tag, that player’s season is over. That was Crawford’s case. Carter Runyon was also placed on IR before the initial roster, but he had a designated-to-return tag, so he will be back within four games.
The Raiders waited until after the 53-man roster came out to place Thornton on IR, which means he will miss at least four games but is not done for the year. His injury situation has been strange. He hasn’t done much of anything this preseason, and the official details are something coach Klint Kubiak and his staff will have to share if they choose to do so.
This wide receiver room has not had much juice this offseason, and losing Thornton only makes things tighter. That’s not to say Thornton would have provided exactly what the Raiders need. He’s still a second-year player with a lot to prove and a lot to work on. But this group needs all the help it can get. Las Vegas is now without a player who runs 4.3 speed, stands 6’5, and presents a legitimate deep ball threat when he can catch the football. That kind of profile is something the Raiders don’t have much of, if at all, on the current roster.
Cody White brings familiarity to Kubiak’s offense
In other moves, the Raiders re-signed linebacker Segun Olubi, who had a fantastic preseason and is a strong special teams contributor. They signed him this offseason and clearly value what he brings. As for Cody White, the new practice squad addition, he brings four years of NFL experience and a Super Bowl ring. White played with the Seattle Seahawks last season under Kubiak, so the familiarity is already there. He has 11 career catches for 169 receiving yards and one career receiving touchdown. The 6’3 Michigan State product spent the last two seasons in Seattle and played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021 and 2022.
White is not the kind of player anyone expects to walk in and provide the top-end spark the Raiders need at wide receiver. But he’s a body, and with Thornton now on IR, Las Vegas needs help at the position. They needed help there before Thornton went down, too. Kubiak has a player he knows who knows his offense, and the Raiders clearly wanted him enough to bring him in. We’ll see what Cody White can do from here.
