Why Carroll, Raiders Must Be Honest with Themselves and Raider Nation

The Las Vegas Raiders are in between a rock and a hard place. After claiming to not be rebuilding, it is clear they probably should.

Raiders' Firesale

Eric Edholm of NFL.com recently took a look around the league at which teams should be open to the idea of shipping talent away. At 2-5 and clearly struggling with a bottom-tier roster, Edholm believes the Raiders should be one of those teams.

Aside from Maxx Crosby, Edholm believes the Raiders should be open to trading just about anyone on the roster. Las Vegas' front office may not want to admit it, but they should accept the need to fully rebuild the roster with quality talent, with less emphasis on older, veteran players past their prime.

"Any warm vibes leftover from the Titans win were quickly doused by last week’s listless shutout at Kansas City. At 2-5, the Raiders must be realistic about their situation. Even if Maxx Crosby isn’t going anywhere, pretty much everyone else should be available for the right price," Edholm said.

"The headliner is WR Jakobi Meyers, who previously requested a trade and still appears open to going elsewhere. With several teams seeking WR help, Meyers -- a 2026 free agent -- could be an instant upgrade for someone, although he missed last week’s game. Malcolm Koonce and Zamir White are two other prospective free agents who could be dealt. It’ll be interesting to see how active GM John Spytek will be in his first trade deadline in the captain’s chair.

Heading into their Week 7 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll noted that the Raiders' upcoming schedule would not impact the team's moves at the deadline. Then, Las Vegas lost by 31 points a few days later. The loss could change Carroll's stance.

"I don't think we approach it any differently because of the schedule and all. We're competing to get as good as we can possibly get, so we're looking for all opportunities, and as we watch what's happening, it seems really quiet right now in conversations or whatever's going on,” Carroll said.

“But we take each opportunity as the next comp that we got. So, we're going after it. Johnny's [John Spytek] got his guys scouring the league and seeing everybody's players and practice squads and all that kind of stuff. We're just trying to get better. So, this doesn't change anything. I don't think the schedule will affect us with the bye coming up. It just gives us more time to work."

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