The Las Vegas Raiders have a long way to go until they are in the territory of a team like the Philadelphia Eagles or Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Heck, even where the Denver Broncos currently are. Luckily, John Spytek has taken a piece from each of those franchises with him to Las Vegas.
He leveraged his old Broncos relationship with Gary Kubiak to land his son, Klint, as the Raiders' next head coach. Spytek has added former Buccaneers to the roster and utilized Jason Licht's team-building strategies. He's brought several executives from the Philadelphia front office to Las Vegas.
And now, Spytek is taking a page directly out of Eagles general manager Howie Roseman's book when it comes to building a defense: Get as many Georgia Bulldogs as you can. The Raiders' second-year general manager isn't necessarily reinventing the wheel here; he's just stealing Roseman's.
Raiders are adopting Eagles' strategy of stockpiling former Georgia defenders
Philadelphia developed a reputation for being infatuated with Georgia defenders in the NFL Draft, and for good reason. Since 2022, the Eagles have taken six former Bulldogs, five of them in a span of two seasons. That is no coincidence. Roseman saw something special in that crop of players.
Now, Spytek, who spent five years under Roseman, is doing the same thing in free agency. After re-signing former Georgia stud Eric Stokes early into Monday's legal tampering period, Las Vegas' chief decision-maker brought in a pair of former Bulldogs linebackers in Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean.
Throw in Brock Bowers, and the Raiders now have four Georgia products on the team. Stokes, Walker and Dean were stalwarts on Kirby Smart's 2020 Peach Bowl-winning defense, and Walker, Dean and Bowers were key fixtures on Georgia's 2021 National Championship-winning team.
RELATED: Raiders' updated list of draft picks after Geno Smith trade screams rebuild
Clearly, the strategy of building a defense with former Bulldogs worked for the Eagles. Since that 2022 draft, Philadelphia has won 11 or more games each year, with a total record of 50-18. They've been to two Super Bowls, winning one, and amassed a 6-3 playoff record on the back of a great defense.
Raiders fans would be thrilled to have a résumé in the same stratosphere as that. One playoff appearance would be a miracle, even. It's a copycat league for a reason, and if Spytek wants to model himself after somebody, why not Roseman, one of the NFL's consensus best general managers?
At the NFL combine, Spytek told reporters that he always has to watch his back when doing business with Roseman. He touched on what he's learned from Philadelphia's frontman, including the need to hold your ground but "always listen" to offers. Those ideas came through in the Maxx Crosby trade.
Spytek may be hesitant when dealing with Roseman, but that hasn't prevented a deal from getting done before. He made a clean player-for-player swap with the Eagles last preseason, and Raiders fans actually look back favorably on the trade.
Plus, Spytek never said anything about doing business like Roseman.