Raiders Sign Ex-Ravens TE Who Is Even Taller Than Darren Waller

The Las Vegas Raiders have focused most of their attention on the 2025 NFL Draft over the last few weeks, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t moves to be made. The team had a mostly quiet free agency, as they favored smaller moves over big splashes.

The tight end room might be the strong position group on the roster, but that’s not stopping the Raiders from adding more. The team announced that they have signed tight end Qadir Ismail.

Notably, Ismail is the nephew of former Raiders wide receiver Raghib “Rocket” Ismail. He didn’t inherit his uncle’s speed, but he’s significantly bigger. At 6-foot-7, he’s even taller than former star tight end Darren Waller, who is 6-foot-6.

Ismail spent last year with the Baltimore Ravens after going undrafted. The last time the Raiders signed a young former Ravens tight end who didn’t play much was when they poached Waller from their practice squad.

It’s difficult to see Ismail having a similar career trajectory, considering Las Vegas already has Brock Bowers, who has a chance to cement himself as the best tight end in the NFL next season. Regardless, Ismail is a big, athletic tight end who has some intriguing upside if the team gives him a chance.

Raiders Now Have Two Offensive Cornerstones

If it weren’t for Jayden Daniels having arguably the greatest rookie season for a quarterback ever, Bowers may have been the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year last season. He set every major rookie tight end record last season, and it’s clear that he has the chance to be an all-time player.

Bowers was considered one of the top prospects last year, but positional value led to him slipping to pick 13. Many experts thought that running back Ashton Jeanty was a top-three player in the class, but once again, positional value led to him falling to the Raiders.

Jeanty and Bowers are going to give the franchise two offensive cornerstones for a long time to come.

John Spytek Talks Jeanty Pick

There was a lot of debate regarding whether or not the Raiders would use such a high draft pick on a running back. Las Vegas had the worst running game in the NFL last season, and now they have a player who nearly set the record for most rushing yards in a single college football season.

This was John Spytek’s first pick as a general manager, and it’s safe to say that he’s not second-guessing his decision.

“There’s a lot of things to talk about, but one of the things is he was hard to tackle,” Spytek told reporters after Round 1. “I mean, guys couldn’t get him on the ground. … That skill to make people miss and to bounce off tackles and to use the force of the tacklers, he had marvelous talent in that regard.

“I think the word is dynamic for us. He has the ability to do all of it. He can run with power. He can run in short-yardage areas and find the spacing that he needs to make the plays, and he’s got that marvelous ability, just on any play, he can score, and that’s just such an exciting aspect to add to our football team. We just feel very fortunate.”