Wagner was seen to have a good chance of making the 53-man roster before sustaining an unknown ailment, thus Las Vegas signed him as an undrafted free agency in April. As a result, he will miss the entire 2023 campaign.
When the Las Vegas Raiders signed lineman Dalton Wagner during the summer, it appeared like they scored a bargain in terms of undrafted free agents.
Wagner was the highest-paid undrafted free agent in the Raiders’ class of 2023 when he signed a three-year, $2,720,000 contract.
Wagner had a good preseason, but sadly for him and Las Vegas, he would end up on the Injured Reserve List late in August due to an injury that was not made public.
Redshirting his freshman year, Wagner went on to play five seasons of collegiate ball at Arkansas. In 2018, he made one start and participated in 11 of the 12 games for the Razorbacks.
Wagner was Arkansas’s right tackle for the entire 12 games in the next season. He made five starts in eight games during his junior year of redshirting in 2020. He began in 10 games the following year.
Next, in 2022, Wagner had his best season. He made 12 starts, finished with a career-high 80.5 overall rating from Pro Football Focus, and was selected to the PFF All-SEC First Team.
The Associated Press All-SEC Second Team for 2022 included Wagner as well.
The Raiders would have benefited from the availability of the 25-year-old tackle during the two games that tackle Thayer Munford Jr. was forced to miss due to an injury sustained last season that sidelined left tackle Kolton Miller.
When training camp rolls around, a healthy Wagner might be extremely beneficial to Las Vegas, especially because tackle Jermaine Eluemunor is a free agent this offseason and Miller missed four games due to his first severe injury of the season.
Still, the word “healthy” is crucial.
The NFL Scouting Combine will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, from February 27 to March 4, 2024.
