Silver And Black Pride
Combining with Pete Carroll and Tom Brady, Las Vegas decision-makers face key offseason
Now that the NFL’s 2024 campaign is officially over with the Philadelphia Eagles’ 40-22 spectacular shellacking of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, it’s all ahead forward on the offseason.
And what an integral time period it is for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Soon enough, we’ll see general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll roll up their sleeves to construct a roster that can compete in the AFC West and the rest of the league. Don’t expect a dramatic turnaround in Year 1 — undoubtedly that’d be a nice pleasant surprise — but the foundation that the two leading men for the Silver & Black lay looms large on the team’s future.
Let’s take a look at the Top 5 to-dos on Spytek’s list as the Raiders chief personnel man:
An NFL team often begins and ends in the trenches. Both Spytek and Carroll are all too aware of this. The GM with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who showcased both a resolute offensive line and domineering defensive line in the Super Bowl victory in 2020. The head coach during his years captaining the Seattle Seahawks who had stout offensive and defensive lines, too.
What we witnessed in the Eagles’ thrashing of the Chiefs this past Sunday is yet another prime example of the importance of trench work. Check out this absurd stat below:
The natural front four pressure Philadelphia boasted is something legendary former Raiders owner Al Davis loved and it’s something that Carroll learned from Monte Kiffin when Las Vegas new coach was devising his own scheme and system growing as a coach.
Spytek putting together a group of big ugly’s and beasts on the defensive and offensive lines is an excellent start to what the Raiders’ new regime hopes to instill in this variant of the Silver & Black. There are pieces on both fronts — defensive end Maxx Crosby and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on one side, center/guard Jackson Powers-Johnson and left tackle Kolton Miller on the other — but competition and depth are a must this offseason.
As the days go by, the reports on Crosby do, too. From NFL Network’s own Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport noting the Raiders star edge rusher could be dealt this offseason, to Crosby himself saying this is the most optimistic he’s been about the team to Pro Football Talk Live, it seems the talk won’t die down until kickoff to the 2025 season.
Crosby is halfway through the four-year, $94 million ($53.075 million guaranteed) he inked in March of 2022 and he has no more guaranteed coin the next two seasons before he’s slated to be an unrestricted free agent (at age 30 in the offseason after the 2026 campaign).
The 27-year-old has 59.5 sacks through six seasons with the Raiders and is a true gem as a fourth-round pick (106th overall) in the...
