The Las Vegas Raiders have moved on from one of their defensive starters after he spent just four games with the team, and no one seems to know why.
Veteran linebacker Germaine Pratt was released by Las Vegas on Monday. The move came after he did not travel with the team for their Week 5 game against the Indianapolis Colts, which the Raiders lost 40-6.
Pratt was not listed with an injury last week, so it was a coach’s decision that he did not travel to Indy. When Pete Carroll was asked on Monday why the Raiders cut Pratt, the head coach only said that the team “decided to go in a different direction.”
Pratt started all four games for Las Vegas this season prior to Sunday. He had 25 total tackles.
The 29-year-old Pratt shared a cryptic post on social media after he was released.
— Germaine Pratt (@GermainePratt7) October 6, 2025
Pratt spent the first six seasons of his NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals. He requested a trade in February and was then released on June 10. He signed a one-year, $4.25 million deal with the Raiders the following day.
It was unclear why Pratt wanted out of Cincinnati. He was a defensive captain for the team and had a career-high 143 total tackles last season while appearing in all 17 games.
