Oakland swaps kickers, waives safety Melifonwu

The Raiders parted ways with their second-round pick from 2017 and made a change at kicker Tuesday.

Safety Obi Melifonwu was waived from the injured reserve list, ending a short and injury-filled tenure in Oakland.

Melifonwu appeared in just five games his rookie season because of knee and hip injuries. He began training camp healthy this year but experienced a flare-up of a lower body injury. The Raiders waived/injured Melifonwu on Aug. 23 to create a roster spot for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Melifonwu had been on injured reserve since passing through waivers.

The move leaves just 10 of the 50 players drafted by the Raiders from 2012 through ’17 on either their current 53-man roster or the injured-reserve list.

The Raiders also waived kicker Matt McCrane and signed a replacement in rookie Daniel Carlson.

McCrane was the Raiders’ kicker for three games after being signed to replace injured Mike Nugent. McCrane made 5 of 9 field-goal attempts and 5 of 5 extra-point tries, and had three touchbacks on 13 kickoffs.

Carlson was a fifth-round pick by the Vikings out of Auburn in this year’s draft, but he lasted only two games with Minnesota before being waived. Carlson missed three field-goal tries in a Week 2 tie with Green Bay, including two potential game-winning kicks in overtime. Carlson did produce touchbacks on 9 of 10 kickoffs.

Kicker has been a revolving door for the Raiders this season. They entered training camp with Giorgio Tavecchio as their incumbent, but cut Tavecchio in favor of undrafted rookie Eddy Piñeiro. Piñeiro suffered a groin injury in training camp and was placed on injured reserve. Nugent kicked in Oakland’s first three games, making 6 of 6 field-goal tries.

Head coach Jon Gruden said at the time Tavecchio was waived largely to allow new holder and punter Johnny Townsend to work exclusively with a right-footed kicker. Tavecchio signed last week with the Falcons. In his debut Monday night against the Giants, Tavecchio made 3 of 3 field-goal attempts, including kicks of 50 and 56 yards.

In other moves, the Raiders promoted receiver Marcell Ateman — their seventhround pick in April — and guard/tackle Denver Kirkland from the practice squad, filling spots on their active roster created by the trade of receiver Amari Cooper and placement of running back Marshawn Lynch on injured reserve.

The Raiders also signed running back James Butler to their practice squad.