PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : Raiders Trade Ismail and Cut Jaeger

The Oakland Raiders traded wide receiver Rocket Ismail to the Carolina Panthers and released kicker Jeff Jaeger on Sunday to reduce their roster to the required 53 players.

Ismail was traded for an undisclosed draft choice. Defensive lineman Austin Robbins was also traded, going to the New Orleans Saints for an undisclosed draft choice, while cornerback Bruce Pickens, safety Joe King, quarterback Alfred Montez and guard Joey Wylie were cut.

Ismail had been a disappointment for the Raiders, catching 88 passes in three seasons. He had only three receptions in exhibition games this year, and the emergence of Kenny Shedd and Olanda Truitt made him expendable.

Jaeger, a 10-year veteran who ranks third among Raider all-time scorers with 667 points, lost his job to second-year kicker Cole Ford, who made all eight of his field-goal attempts in exhibition games--including a 53-yarder. Jaeger was four of eight, with his longest being 44 yards. Jaeger also was to make $675,000 this year compared to Ford’s $178,000.

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Craig Erickson, who began last season as the Indianapolis Colts’ starting quarterback, became a victim of his $2-million salary when he was released. Erickson, obtained last year from Tampa Bay for a first-round draft pick, lost his starting job when he struggled in the first two games of last season. Jim Harbaugh became the starter and compiled the league’s highest rating for a starting quarterback as he guided the Colts to the AFC championship game. . . The New York Jets cut fullback Brad Baxter, who scored 35 touchdowns in six seasons with the team. Baxter ranks seventh among the Jets’ all-time rushers with 2,928 yards. . . . Cornerback Rod Jones, a mainstay of the Cincinnati Bengal secondary the last six years, was cut, while running back Garrison Hearst, claimed off waivers Wednesday from the Arizona Cardinals, was kept. Because Hearst makes $2.1 million this year and is being kept as a backup to Ki-Jana Carter, there was speculation he would be cut or traded. The Bengals would like to renegotiate his salary, but Hearst has not agreed to do so. . . . The Pittsburgh Steelers put wide receiver Ernie Mills, injured in last January’s Super Bowl, on the physically-unable-to-perform list and he is not eligible to practice until Oct. 8.