This will be the 23rd consecutive season without a playoff win for the Raiders. And if things don’t drastically change, it’ll be another 23 before the next one.
At least.
This offseason was supposed to represent a turning point for the Raiders. They cleaned house in every sense and then remodeled it entirely, adding Hall of Famers Tom Brady and Richard Seymour as minority owners, hiring John Spytek away from the Buccaneers as general manager and coaxing 74-year-old Pete Carroll off the couch and into the hot seat as coach.
As for the roster, the Raiders did what they always seem to do: take a big swing. In 2019, they sent a pair of draft choices to the Steelers for Antonio Brown. He never played for them and was released. In ’22, Las Vegas traded first- and second-round picks for All-Pro receiver Davante Adams before giving him a five-year, $141 million extension. He lasted two full years and three games before being traded to the Jets. In ’24, they signed defensive tackle Christian Wilkins to a four-year, $110 million deal. He played five games and was cut.
This offseason, the Raiders dealt a third-round pick to the Seahawks for quarterback Geno Smith. Early returns aren’t good.
The Raiders are 2–8 after being blown out of their building on Monday Night Football by the 4-5-1 Cowboys, 33–16. Smith has been atrocious, tied with Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa for the league lead with 13 interceptions. Carroll, hailed as someone who along with Spytek could change the culture, has done nothing but enhance it.
The entire year has been a disaster, beginning with the Raiders’ release of Wilkins on July 24, only three days after veterans reported for camp. Fast-forward to the present, and if this isn’t rock bottom, you’d hate to see what is. The Raiders have two wins and might be favored in two games the rest of the season, with the Browns and Giants coming to town. Otherwise, they have games against playoff contenders in the Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, Eagles and Texans.
The roster is as bad as it has been since the early days of the Derek Carr era, when the team—based in Oakland—began 0–4 under Dennis Allen and then lost six straight under interim coach Tony Sparano in 2014.
If the NFL struck all player contracts and held a 32-team draft with everyone available, Raiders second-year All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers and 28-year-old edge rusher Maxx Crosby would get scooped up in the first 50 picks. After that, there might legitimately be another 200 selections before anybody on Las Vegas’s roster went off the board. Rookie running back and the 2025 No. 6 pick, Ashton Jeanty, would intrigue people, but he’s rushed for 547 yards on 3.8 yards per carry.
If owner Mark Davis ever wants to compete in a division with the three-time AFC champion Chiefs, the ascending Broncos and the Chargers, led by quarterback Justin Herbert and coach Jim Harbaugh, he needs to change. And not just the nameplates on the desks and doors, but the way he runs the organization.
For starters, Davis has to find a better scouting department. Since the Raiders moved to Las Vegas before the 2020 season, they’ve selected 48 players (37 before this spring) in the draft. Of them, only Bowers has earned Pro Bowl or All-Pro honors. And, sans Bowers, not a single one would be called a star.
Davis also needs to stop spending money on players who have their best years behind them. Wilkins came to the Raiders as a 28-year-old with 20.5 career sacks. Smith was deemed expendable by Seattle for a late Day 2 pick, primarily because he’s 35 years old and coming off a year with 15 interceptions. Carroll is the oldest coach in football and over the past four years of his tenure with the Seahawks failed to win a playoff game.
Forever, it has seemed the Raiders have tried to win with someone else’s heroes. They have traded for those aforementioned stars while four of their past five coaches have been retreads, including Jack Del Rio, Jon Gruden, Josh McDaniels and Carroll.
At some point, Davis has to forge an identity and a culture built on young, homegrown players led by a quarterback who isn’t either average or passing through town. Since Rich Gannon led the Raiders to the Super Bowl in the 2002 season, they’ve had 25 starting quarterbacks. Only Derek Carr had any success, making four Pro Bowls, albeit while going 77–92.
Come this offseason, the Raiders will have another long winter to contend with. They should seriously consider trading Crosby, who has four years remaining on his deal but only $30 million guaranteed left on the books. He would fetch at least first-round and Day 2 picks. With what is assuredly going to be another top-10 choice (currently No. 6, per Tankathon), the Raiders have to find success, regardless of position. They also need to lay off a big-name signing, keeping the long-term cap sheet clean.
The Raiders have been lost in the desert for years, dating back well before they moved to one. They have tried all the big-name moves, failing every time.
If they want to win a playoff game sometime in the next quarter century, it starts with changing.
Everything.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Raiders Must Change More Than Just the Personnel in Sin City.
