NAPA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders parting ways with running back Taiwan Jones, as reported Thursday by ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, not only saves the team $1.15 million in salary-cap space, it marked the end of an era.
Jones, taken in the fourth round of the 2011 draft out of Eastern Washington, was the last remaining position player on the Raiders' roster selected by the late Al Davis. Only kicker Sebastian Janikowski, the team’s first-round pick in 2000, remains as a Davis progeny.
In parting ways with Jones, who would have had a hard time cracking the team’s initial 53-man roster with the addition of Marshawn Lynch and the drafting of Elijah Hood to join returners DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard, the Raiders are cutting loose perhaps their fastest player (he has run a 4.