The Las Vegas Raiders overhauled their leadership during the offseason, as they brought in general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll. It only took one offseason for these two to revamp the roster in a major way.
Their moves have not worked out thus far, however, as the team is just 1-4 to begin the season. The Raiders have struggled to put a competitive product on the field as well, with very few bright spots through five games.
The sky is seemingly falling in Las Vegas as they are coming off their worst performance of the season, suffering a 40-6 blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. One analyst even suggested that Spytek may already be on the hot seat following the brutal start to the season.
Raiders GM John Spytek's seat may start heating up
While many believe that Spytek has a much longer leash than Carroll due to his ties to minority owner Tom Brady, one NFL analyst sees things differently. Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox suggested that the Raiders could move on from the general manager after the 2025 NFL season.
"The reality is that Las Vegas has looked like a worse team than it was a year ago despite undergoing a substantial offseason overhaul. Head coach Pete Carroll hasn't provided the disciplined, winning culture most expected he would. General manager John Spytek took some bold swings in the offseason but has seemingly assembled one of the league's weakest rosters," Knox wrote. "Poor quarterback play has been a big part of the problem, but the offensive line and secondary have both been bad. And Las Vegas' decision to use the sixth overall pick on running back Ashton Jeanty isn't paying off. Carroll could be a one-and-done head coach, but a pivot away from Spytek is probably even more likely. Assistant GM Brian Stark, who previously served as Denver's director of college scouting, could fill the role on an interim basis while the Raiders search for a new GM—presumably, another with ties to minority owner Tom Brady."
First of all, the assertion that the selection of Jeanty has not paid off is simply not true. His struggles have been solely due to the broken nature of the Raiders' offense. Jeanty has been great, especially considering the uphill battle he's faced.
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Secondly, Spytek's ties to Brady are deep, as the two were college teammates on the Michigan Wolverines, and Spytek was a part of the front office that brought the seven-time Super Bowl champion to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He was also signed to a five-year deal this offseason, whereas Carroll signed just a three-year contract, so that alone should buy Spytek some leeway. Additionally, he is in his first opportunity as a general manager with just one draft class and free agency under his belt, so he needs time.
While his moves have not paid off right away, the Raiders can't continue to switch general managers every year and hope for instant results. The franchise is already on its fifth general manager and head coach in the past five seasons. The formula of constant change rarely ever leads to desirable results.
Las Vegas needs to stay the course and give Spytek at least one more year to implement his vision. However, being on this list already is an indictment of how bad the Silver and Black have been this year, and no general manager wants to be included in this sort of catalog.