WEDNESDAY, 12:14pm: Mays has officially signed with the Raiders, who confirmed the deal and announced that they’ve cut linebacker Chase Williams to create room on the roster for Mays.
TUESDAY, 8:52pm: The Raiders have reached agreement on a deal with safety Taylor Mays, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The deal reunited Mays, a USC product, with Ken Norton Jr., who is now Oakland’s defensive coordinator.
Last week, Mays asked the Lions for his release after he didn’t receive any playing time in the team’s preseason contest against Washington. That marked the second time this year that Mays was released by an NFC North team — the veteran safety and special-teamer signed with the Vikings earlier in the year, and was cut by Minnesota back in June.
In five NFL seasons with the 49ers and Bengals, Mays has made 84 tackles, recorded one sack, and recovered a pair of fumbles. While his numbers aren’t exceptional, the former second-round pick is a solid contributor on special teams, and drew interest from multiple teams when he hit the market this offseason.