What a difference a year makes.
The Las Vegas Raiders were one of the least aggressive teams in free agency during the 2025 NFL offseason. First-year general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll weren't on the same page, as they traded for Geno Smith and extended Maxx Crosby but remained fairly quiet otherwise.
Instead of signing any big-ticket veterans on the open market, Spytek made some minor investments and played the compensatory pick formula. Of course, the end result of this series of moves was a league-worst 3-14 record during the 2025 NFL season and a pick atop April's draft board.
But Spytek, heading into Year 2 as a chief decision-maker in the league, was determined not to make the same mistakes again. Yes, he was partially influenced by the CBA's required spending floor, but the Silver and Black went on a spending spree this offseason, adding tons of young free agent talent.
And he didn't let nearly as many good players leave the building, if any.
Raiders' John Spytek was determined not to repeat past mistakes in 2026
After watching Robert Spillane, K'Lavon Chaisson, Tre'Von Moehrig, Nate Hobbs, Divine Deablo and John Jenkins leave in free agency a year ago, Spytek made it a point to re-sign guys like Eric Stokes and Thomas Booker IV, as well as bring back Malcolm Koonce and Jordan Meredith again this year.
When Spytek sat down with JT The Brick on Thursday, he discussed a lot more than just the Maxx Crosby drama for the first time. He also touched on why he made it a point to retain in-house talent this offseason, like the aforementioned players.
"I probably let too many good players walk out of the building last year, and we were determined not to let that happen this year," Spytek admitted.
Only five of the Raiders' free agents have signed elsewhere this offseason: Dylan Parham, Kenny Pickett, Stone Forsythe, Lonnie Johnson Jr. and Darnay Holmes. Of that group, really only Parham and Johnson Jr. will be missed, but it was Las Vegas' choice not to bring them back.
Obviously, Spytek has shown a lot of promise in just over a year at the helm for the Silver and Black. But when JT The Brick asked him what he's learned about himself in that time or how he's evolved, Spytek gave an honest answer that, rightfully, indicates that he does not have it all figured out yet.
"I've learned to be patient, but when you need to be aggressive, you have to go for it," Spytek said. "The saying upstairs (during) this free agent class was 'intelligently aggressive.' We weren't going to get out over our skis. We weren't going to create our own urgency, but when the opportunity presented itself, we were going to let it rip."
Let it rip, they did. The Raiders forked out several massive contracts to players like Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean, Kwity Paye and Jalen Nailor, as well as a market-resetting deal for Tyler Linderbaum. Las Vegas didn't cheap out this offseason as it did a year ago.
So, lesson learned and immediately applied.
Spytek, much like a young player or coach, isn't going to have it all figured out in Year 1. But honest self-assessment and not making the same mistake twice is going to go a long way for the second-year general manager. And that's what he displayed in this interview.
He is still young and will need to learn more on the job. But Spytek isn't likely to repeat any failed history or to keep doing something over and over again and expecting a different result.