Raiders grant WR Willie Snead's release request

The Raiders are moving on from Willie Snead. The veteran wide receiver requested his release, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, and the team will grant it.

Snead has played a lesser role in Las Vegas compared to his jobs in New Orleans and Baltimore, and the Raiders — like they did with John Brown just before the season started — agreed to his release request. The seventh-year slot receiver had caught only three passes for 32 yards as a Raider.

Because Snead is being cut ahead of the trade deadline, he will go straight to free agency. Had the Raiders cut him after next week’s deadline, the veteran would have been subject to waivers. A late-March signing, Snead profiled as a depth player for the Raiders. He logged only 8% of their offensive snaps. This marked a sharp decline from his Ravens role last season, when he played 63% of their offensive snaps.

Snead, 29, played three seasons with the Saints and Ravens. His most productive years came in New Orleans, when he topped 890 receiving yards in his first two seasons, the former UDFA has been a serviceable auxiliary wideout in the years since. Snead caught 33 passes for 432 yards in Baltimore’s run-heavy offense last season. The Raiders added Snead and Brown earlier this year but have used homegrown targets Henry Ruggs, Hunter Renfrow and Bryan Edwards as their primary receivers this season.