The Raiders didn’t achieve much in 2025, but they have the first overall pick in the 2026 draft, a new head coach on the way, and more than $100 million in projected salary cap room.
The future has the potential to still be bright for the Raiders, but the message from GM John Spytek on Monday is that the team is going to take a patient approach and build the team for long-term success.
Yes, that’s the same message that has been preached by every Raiders GM and head coach (other than Pete Carroll) for decades, and a couple of former GMs with the team commented on the current state of the Raiders this week.
In a well-researched ESPN piece this week from Kalyn Kahler and Ryan McFadden, former Raiders’ GM Mike Mayock shared a simple message pointing to what he believes was the team’s biggest mistake since the Raiders last made the playoffs in 2021…
“Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia went 7-5 and led the team to its most recent playoff appearance and winning season. Former Raiders general manager Mike Mayock, who worked with Gruden and was fired after the 2021 season, declined to talk to ESPN for this story, but he said via text message: ‘Had the Raiders kept Bisaccia after the 2021 season, they would be competing for divisional titles, not for the 1st pick in the draft.'”
According to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, the decision to fire Bisaccia is one that Mark Davis realized was a mistake.
The issue, apparently, was that Davis didn’t want to keep Mayock around and Mayock wanted to keep Bisaccia around.
“I think Mark [Davis] has regretted not hiring Rich [Bisaccia]. I’m not guessing there. I have reason to believe that…,” Hondo said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast in 2023. “The problem was that Mark wanted to move on from [Mike] Mayock… and Mayock was so ‘We gotta hire Rich, we gotta hire Rich’ that he was like ‘Nope. Clean everybody out.’”
In theory, Davis could have fired Mayock and kept Bisaccia, but the lure of Josh McDaniels was too much.
McDaniels came highly recommended by Tom Brady and Brady is expected to be the decisive voice in the Raiders’ next coaching hire.
Rumors have been swirling around the ‘Patriot Way’ potentially returning to Las Vegas, and if Brian Flores ends up being the Raiders’ next head coach, it will be interesting to see if he has learned anything since his time with the Miami Dolphins.
Former quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick talked about his experience with Flores last year on his podcast.
“Brian Flores has been a really hot name, and I think the further removed we get from his tenure in Miami, the more people kind of forget about how that ended, and the better his name becomes,” Fitzpatrick said on the Fitz and Whit podcast a year ago.
“He went to Pittsburgh and got to learn under Mike Tomlin and see how he led, and now he’s been in Minnesota with Kevin O’Connell. I think the interesting thing with Brian Flores, when I think about him and being able to play under him for a few years, is which version of Brian Flores are we getting? And in year one with Miami, take you back to that year.”
“Miami got rid of every good player they had, and that was jokingly called the ‘Tank for Tua’ year. But I’ll tell you, halfway through that year, we didn’t win a game yet, and there was a shift in the way that he was approaching his job. He was likable, he was relatable, he demanded a lot out of the players, but he was also able to get the best version of his players, and I really appreciated him for that.”
“But as his tenure went on in Miami, he kind of became unrecognizable. A lot of the staff he brought over from New England, that was where, you know, he cut his teeth, and the NFL was there for 15-plus years as an assistant.”
Looking ahead, Fitzpatrick said he has doubts about Flores getting another opportunity as a head coach because of the bridges he burned in Miami.
“I think he’s going to have a really hard time if you’re interviewing him as a head coach,” Fitzpatrick continued.
“I think in the interviews, he’ll be likable, he’ll be relatable. But when people say, okay, give me somebody from Miami that coached under you as a reference so we can talk to them. I think he burned a lot of bridges there. I think he alienated himself from the entire staff. Instead of what you were just talking about, having the humility to ask questions, to collaborate.”
“I think by the end of his time there, he became a dictator, he ruined a lot of those relationships that he built up through the NFL. And his ego grew so big that there wasn’t any room for anyone else. And so that was why he got released at the end of his tenure in Miami.”
As for the other former GM who talked about the Raiders this week, Tom Telesco was a little more gracious toward the organization and believes the future in Las Vegas can still be bright…
x: @raidersbeat
The Patriot way does not belong nor does it work in Vegas!!!!!!
The Patriot Way does not belong nor does it work in Vegas for the Raiders!!!
Stop trying to force it down the Raiders throats, Brady should is a minority and should not
have that call!!!
Guys, let’s stop holding our croch and bring in John Gruden!
We are faithful Raiders fans and we deserve our fourth superbowl trophy!
In this decade!
Absolutely not
Brady already picked 2 coaches in Josh McDaniel & Pete Caroll. Keep him at Fox and let him go serenade the girls but keep him out of the Raiders selection process
Exactly
Brady already picked 2 coaches in Josh McDaniel & Pete Caroll. Keep him at Fox and let him go serenade the girls but keep him out of the Raiders selection process
Totally agree!
And Mayock got labeled when he was a puppet under Gruden.
Most certainly we would be competing for division titles every season with both of those guys at GM and head coach, respectively
After 45 years I’ve learned to expect nothing out of the raiders. They will screw it up and trade no 1 pic . That what there good at.