The Raiders wasted little time using their top waiver priority on a player the 49ers had just moved on from, with former San Francisco cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. expected to land in Las Vegas.
San Francisco had already seemed headed toward that decision. Luter, a Round 5 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, had spent three seasons with the 49ers without making much of an impact, and an offseason that brought more bodies into the cornerback room only made his spot look shakier. When the team set its initial 53-man roster, he was one of the cuts.
From there, the market moved fast. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Raiders were expected to claim Luter with the No. 1 waiver spot, and that the club could use that top claim on multiple players if it wanted to.
With the top waiver spot, the Raiders are expected to claim former 49ers CB Darrell Luter, per league source.
The Raiders are allowed to claim however many players they want from the No. 1 waiver claim. Luter is expected to be one. pic.twitter.com/C2HfUuWRt7
- Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2026
The move fits the way Las Vegas has approached this stretch of the roster shuffle. First-year head coach Klint Kubiak is trying to steer a turnaround, and even though his background is on the offensive side, he already knows Luter from their time together in San Francisco in 2023.
Luter’s most memorable moment with the 49ers may have been his special teams mistake in the Super Bowl in February of 2024. Beyond that, he mostly worked as a backup and fringe piece during his run in San Francisco.
In 27 games, including three starts, the South Alabama product finished with 28 tackles, a forced fumble and one pass broken up.
At 26, Luter still has time to reset his career. In a Las Vegas rebuild that is still taking shape, the Raiders are betting he can carve out a role and make this next stop matter more than the last one did.
In Other News...
49ers Defensive Front Just Lost A Rookie They Were Counting On
Mykel Williams rookie year is starting with an unexpected pause after the 49ers placed the defensive lineman on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform List, pushing back his debut by at least the first four games. The first-round pick from the 2025 NFL Draft had been part of the plan for a front that expected to lean on its young pass rush talent, but an ACL injury has changed the opening stretch and ensured he will not be on the field for the season opener.
San Francisco has already set its 53-man roster, and the edge-rusher group will have to carry the load without him for now, with Sam Okuayinou, Keion White and Romello Height among the names on the list. The early absence matters because Williams was supposed to help line up next to Nick Bosa, and now the 49ers will have to find out how much pressure they can generate before their rookie defender is eligible to return. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Just Lost A Defender They Wanted To Keep
The 49ers roster churn is still rolling as teams around the league sort through waiver claims and the next round of practice-squad and injured reserve moves. San Francisco had been trying to keep its depth intact, but the early action already trimmed away some familiar names, with the Raiders grabbing Darrell Luter, the Chiefs taking Bryson Eason, and the Colts landing Kapena Gushiken.
There is still more movement to come before the day is done, and that is where the 49ers will get their next look at how the back end of the roster settles. Christian Jones and Isaiah Foskey were also part of the broader conversation around roster decisions and development, which is exactly why these post-cutdown hours can matter so much for a team trying to preserve young talent wherever it can. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Just Got A Harsh Early Reality Check In The NFC West
The NFC West already looked unforgiving for San Francisco, and now the early path has gotten even steeper. Reports that Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement to return to the Los Angeles Rams only add to a roster that already carried plenty of defensive bite, and the comparison between the two teams has tilted further toward Los Angeles on both sides of the ball. For a 49ers team trying to navigate a division that rarely offers much breathing room, it is the kind of development that forces an immediate reset of expectations.
The timing makes it even tougher to ignore because the 49ers are set to see the Rams first in Melbourne, Australia, a stage that will amplify whatever edge Los Angeles believes it has. San Francisco can still make its own case over the course of the season, but the matchup in front of it now looks like more than just an opener. It feels like an early test of whether the 49ers can keep pace in a division where the margin for error may already be shrinking. [Read more 🡒]