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The Las Vegas Raiders have a roster to retool under Pete Carroll. The Silver and Black have decisions to make for both 2025 and even 2026. Carroll already lured Chip Kelly back to the league as his first major decision — plucking him from national champion Ohio State.
Carroll is now taking over the league’s second-best salary cap space, per Over the Cap. The Raiders have more than $92 million in available space, with only Carroll’s former team the New England Patriots ahead of them.
Vegas, however, can free up even more space this offseason. That’ll include making that one surprise cut. This decision won’t impact Kelly as he takes control of the offense. But this surprise roster cut will have an effect on returning defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
Who is that potentially stunning roster departure? Time to dive into it.
Jones rose as a flashy cornerback performer through the last regime. The 27-year-old may not be a part of the new era under Carroll.
The Raiders received hot-and-cold moments from Jones. He showed to be capable of snatching the pick six during 2023. Jones at times displayed strong eye discipline for the football in ’24. But he gave Vegas a mixture of playmaking and head scratching moments.
Jones grabbed three interceptions to lead the defense under Graham. However, he surrendered eight touchdowns in coverage. The Carolina Panthers and veteran backup quarterback Andy Dalton even picked on him for two aerial scores in their 36-22 romp in Week 3. Teams also averaged 10.6 yards per completion after throwing to Jones’ side.
Jones’ up-and-down nature is one aspect on why his Sin City future is nebulous. Now we dive into the financial aspects that give Vegas leverage to move from Jones.
He’s an unrestricted free agent for 2026. But his base salary is rising to more than $3.2 million for 2025, per Spotrac.
There’s signs that indicate Jones and Carroll can work.
Both have Los Angeles region ties. Carroll produced back-to-back national championship winning teams at USC by turning to nearby L.A. talent. Jones started out as a USC commit for the 2016 class. Yet, Jones’ USC tenure became truncated due to off-the-field issues.
Jones additionally received the benefit of having Antonio Pierce around him. The former Raiders head coach helped recruit Jones to Arizona State for the 2019 class. Pierce continued to play Jones on the first team defense on Sundays for the Raiders. But Pierce is gone, which lessens Jones’ chances to remain a Raider.
Carroll won’t have say with the play calling on defense, as Graham regains that responsibility. But Carroll has the power to sway personnel decisions. That includes who Carroll wants on defense.
Carroll has long rolled with longer cornerbacks for his defense. The Seattle Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” era featured CBs who stood taller than the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Jones. Carroll also trusted more fundamentally sound defenders during his...
