The Las Vegas Raiders’ first full year under Tom Brady’s partial watch left a lot to be desired, even by Sin City’s cursed standards.
Turn out the lights, the party’s over.
With a little help from Willie Nelson, former NFL quarterback and narrator Don Meredith would routinely herald closing time before it was cool on the original editions of Monday Night Football. Alas for all but one of football’s 32 finest, it’s over before the desired Vince Lombardi Trophy hoist, as the season, or at least the championship-contending portion of it, has come to an end.
With that in mind, TeamFB7 goes over the season that was for the fallen, looking at what was, what is, and what could be. Next up are the Las Vegas Raiders, who own the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Team: Las Vegas Raiders
Record: 3-14
Date of Playoff Death: Dec. 1
Last Playoff Season: 2021
What Went Wrong
The Raiders doubled down on the Pete Carroll/Geno Smith hierarchy that played to rollercoaster results in Seattle. This time, the house only lost, to the point where the Raiders had the first overall pick wrapped up before the final late afternoon games of the season kicked off..
The first full year under the watch of minority owner Tom Brady ended in familiar fashion when No. 12 involved: with the Raiders losing. The 14 losses on Las Vegas’ ledgers are the most since Art Shell’s ugly return in 2006. They all came after the campaign began with sporadic hope in the form of a Week 1 win over Brady’s original employers, the New England Patriots. Ironically, the Patriots have successfully engaged in a teardown, rebuild, and return to glory since the Raiders’ last fleeting playoff berth in 2021.
Carroll was but one of the Raider renovations, none of which truly panned out in this trying season: bid sayonara from Seattle in favor of Sam Darnold, Smith led the league in both interceptions and times sacked. Touted first-round pick Ashton Jeanty, the first rusher chosen in the top six since Saquon Barkley, never found a groove, averaging but 3.7 yards per carry.
Both issues could also be partly attributed to a revolving door on the offensive line, where the primary names cycled more often than the slot machines at the Mirage. For example, top add Alex Cappa, a lifelong guard in Tampa Bay and Cincinnati, spent the latter portions of the season playing center. Carroll himself, 74, was widely viewed was a curious hire, perhaps a consolation prize for missing out on the Chicago-bound Ben Johnson, as he was rarely one to oversee a rebuilding tour in prior professional stops.
One could even argue that the Raiders were incapable of losing correctly: sitting at 2-5 in late October (and fresh off a particularly ugly shutout loss against Kansas City), the team signed another former Carroll disciple in Tyler Lockett after his release from Tennessee and a week before the team ended the Jakobi Meyers standoff with a trade to Jacksonville.
All that and more created in-season dominoes that fell with each passing (and beyond) shortcoming: offensive overseer Chip Kelly failed to find NFL redemption and was ousted in late November, less than three weeks after special teams counterpart Tom McMahon was relieved of his duties (opposing drives routinely started behind the 33-yard-line). That failed to spur any positive changes, as the Raiders lost the last nine games on their 2025 docket before getting a meaningless win over the aforementioned Chiefs when the No. 1 pick was well-secured.
Defensive coordinator and relative Raider staple Patrick Graham, Brady’s former Foxborough collaborator, survived the in-season purge but probably won’t be invited back after his unit (partly hampered by recent first-round misfires like Damon Arnette and Tyree Wilson, who continues to struggle with his conventional production numbers) gave up at least 20 points in all but four showings this year. Maxx Crosby lived up to his star billing but his late benching, ostensibly in the name of inching closer to the top pick, may have killed off any hope of continued Sin City adventures.
That culminated in the firing of Carroll, leaving Brady, fellow owner Mark Davis, general manager John Spytek, and more to pick up the pieces as they embark on yet another search for a head coach and franchise quarterback.
Silver Linings
— While the Raiders struggled with the basic concepts of a rebuilding year, a few fleeting young breakouts (beyond the continued showcases of tight end Brock Bowers) made at least part of the journey worthwhile: secondary journeyman and Vegas native Kyu Blu Kelly led the team in interceptions (3) and tied Crosby in pass breakups (6) before a ruptured patellar tendon ended his season. Fellow defender Eric Stokes, a first-round pick of Green Bay’s, put up strong numbers in both a conventional and advanced sense after signing a prove-it deal. New draft picks Jack Bech (when he wasn’t fighting Lockett for reps) and Tonka Hemingway likewise flashed potential and even Jeanty hinted at getting the hang of this NFL thing with some late success, namely a 188-yard, two-score day against the mighty Houston Texans defense in Week 16.
— Time will tell what becomes of his fellow franchise face Crosby but Bowers put up another consistent season despite the offensive uncertainty and his season getting cut short by injury. Perhaps the fleeting silver lining of such a brutal season is that there’s no doubt that the top pick will be used on a quarterback. Whoever that is, they get an undeniable weapon to work with as Bowers seems set to stay in Vegas’ marquee for the foreseeable future.
Looking Ahead
Notable Free Agents: LB/S Jamal Adams, K Daniel Carlson, OT Stone Forsythe, EDGE Malcolm Koonce, WR Tyler Lockett, C Jordan Meredith, OG Dylan Parnham, LB Elandon Roberts, CB Eric Stokes, EDGE Charles Snowden, LB Devin White
Potential Cap Cuts: G Alex Capp ($5 million), S Isaiah Pola-Mao ($3.6 million)
The Raiders’ final games might have been a textbook case of meaningless football but that penultimate week loss to the New York Giants (which essentially secured the No. 1 pick) might prove to be costly in more ways than one if Crosby forces his way out following his controversial shutdown. Crosby signed a nine-figure extension last year and should have no shortage of suitors if the Raiders make his services available.
Beyond that, all eyes center on the ultimate jackpot of a season such as is, the top choice in Pittsburgh. It’s widely expected the Raiders will use it on their next franchise quarterback, presumed to be College Football Playoff semifinal co-combatants Fernando Mendoza or Dante Moore.
While the returning weaponry (including the aforementioned inconsistent offensive line that still features outside staple Kolton Miller) leaves plenty to be desired, the Raiders have plenty of offseason capital to work with: though many names linger on the free agent block, Las Vegas is one of two teams (along with the divisional rival Los Angeles Chargers) to have nine figures in 2026 cap space.
Is There Hope?
At this point, it all boils down to if Brady is as good of a decision-maker in the front office as he was on the field.
Despite his minority owner status (officially considered a “limited partner” in the NFL glossary), Las Vegas really appears to be committing itself to the Brady bit: in addition to inching toward a relative “win-now” approach with the ultimate competitor in town, the Raiders go into this new era with rookie general manager Spytek, a TB12 teammate at Michigan who was also in the Tampa Bay front office during his Buccaneer heyday.
It was hardly in Brady’s nature to be patient when it came to winning, but it may be prudent considering the current state of the AFC West. Thanks to the cap space surplus, there’s a prime opportunity to make some progress with the new quarterback in tow and establish some immediate momentum. Whatever happens, it’s time to finally make things right: while Spytek has some unique job security based on his brevity and connections, he’s getting ready to hire the team’s sixth head coach since this Vegas vacation began in 2020. There’s no sign that this group is capable of re-finding that lost stability so this is a fateful trip to the offseason blackjack table.
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