It was reported on Monday that the Raiders are expected to sign veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett, and assuming it happens, Lockett will be reunited with Geno Smith, who was his quarterback in Seattle for five seasons.
The addition of Lockett, who turned 33 years-old last month, will presumably mark the end of Jakobi Meyers’ tenure with the Raiders, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Meyers traded soon.
Lockett will also join forces with his former head coach, and Pete Carroll is already being accused by some of trying to recreate his Seattle team of a few years ago.
Pushing that narrative a little more are a few comments Carroll made in the offseason about himself and Seahawks GM John Schneider, and the reasons why the two decided to part ways after the 2023 season.
“It was really John’s turn. It was his turn to take over. I had the lead voice and all of that all through that time, and I was really hoping that John could become the general manager of the club and run it. And if we could do that and figure a way to get out of that, we did. John was great about it, and so we just kind of agreed upon it that if we could work it out, I would support the thought. That’s kind of how it happened, so it’s a little bit different than maybe how people perceived it, but John got his chance,” Carroll said on Brock & Salk in May.
But it was Carroll’s next comment that seems particularly relevant to the Raiders today.
“There was a lot of big changes that were going to happen and have to come, and I thought we might not agree on all of those changes,” Carroll said. “I was going to hang with some guys maybe more than he would at the time and the changes they made have obviously turned out great. They’ve got a good coach and a good staff and they’re rolling, so more power to them.”
Carroll didn’t say what changes he didn’t want to make in Seattle, but he did say Smith was the quarterback he wanted from the day he arrived in Las Vegas.
”I was trying to get that done from the moment this thing happened. I was hoping we could do something [to get Geno Smith],” Carroll said on Brock and Salk.
“Geno was a backup for all those years… so there was a lot of times where we had to do stuff together to keep him going and he was keeping me going, but I was keeping him going. What he demonstrated to me [was] this remarkable connection in spirit to be ready knowing that the very next play he may be in the game. He never forgot that. His resolve about that I thought was so exceptional that when he got his turn I was thrilled for him…”
Now Carroll will have Lockett and Smith with him in Las Vegas (assuming there are hiccups in the process), and the 2025 Raiders will look even more like the 2023 Seahawks.
The good news is the 2023 Seahawks were better than the 2025 Raiders. The bad news is Carroll wasn’t hired by the Raiders to recreate the 2023 Seahawks.
The Raiders are trying to build something sustainable behind Carroll and to this point in the process, the most recent draft class hasn’t been great and the majority of the veterans on the roster are either injured or seem to have regressed.
Carroll and his coaching staff have run into a few situations they didn’t anticipate in Las Vegas, and while owner Mark Davis said last week he is going to be patient, it’s going to be interesting to see how the offseason plays out if the Raiders don’t figure out how to get momentum going in the right direction again.
x: @raidersbeat
What’s been worse for the Raiders organization: New England West or Seattle South.
Neither. Davis Central is the worse, by far.
Good point. Al set out to build a football team based off the Yankees/Dodgers to blaze his own path.
Mark is just an imbecile that wants to relive glory days he never had
Great, 35 yr old Smith throwing to 33 yr old Lockett defenses will be shaking in their cleats. Just another dagger into Raider Nation. Why not let the young guns play, the seasons shot already, now we are just going to shoot ourselves in the foot to lose out on another chance to score a decent young qb in the draft.
Pete still thinks they can right the ship and make the playoffs! They just need Marshawn Lynch and a couple more of his old Legion of Boom guys to unretiire.