LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Raiders confirmed they have released cornerback Damon Arnette after videos surfaced of him holding guns and making threats to someone.
The video reportedly first appeared on Tik Tok late last week and the NFL league office has been investigating. The Raiders drafted Arnette 19th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.
This comes less than a week after Vegas' other 2020 first round pick, Henry Ruggs III was accused of killing 23-year-old Tina Tintor and her dog in a drunk driving crash. Ruggs is facing felony DUI resulting in death and reckless driving charges that carry a possible sentence of 46 years in prison.
"Very painful decision," Mayock said, according to ESPN.com. "We spent significant time, effort and resources trying to help him in all aspects of his life....We cannot stand for the video of Damon with a gun, threatening to take a life."
In the video, Arnette is holding guns addressing someone, saying he will kill them.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that off the field issues have been a problem for Arnette since the start of his career. Rapoport said Arnette crashed four rental cars in the span of a month in his first year in the league.
SUBSCRIBE to the daily Locked On Raiders podcast, free and available on all platforms
It's been a tumultuous past month for the Raiders organization.
In October, head coach Jon Gruden resigned after misogynistic, racist and derogatory emails written by him were leaked from the NFL's investigation into the Washington Football Team.
Now in a span of a week, both of the team's 2020 first round picks have been released due to serious off the field problems.
The Raiders are 5-3 after they dropped a game in New York against the Giants on Sunday.
They're back in Las Vegas for Sunday Night Football against the 5-4 Chiefs next weekend.
SUBSCRIBE to the Locked On NFL podcast, your daily, free podcast covering all things league-wide