Why the Raiders Are Already Looking Ahead to 2026

LAS VEGAS, Nev.—Moments ago, the Las Vegas Raiders' 2025 season ended in a meaningless game versus the Kansas City Chiefs, and the fact that this rivalry game is labeled as that tells you how bad the season has gone.

The season is over, and this franchise can’t wait one second to get to work on the official 2026 NFL season to try and rectify a once-feared and respected franchise.

The Colors Don’t Change

The Raiders franchise is undeniably one of the most well-known brands not only in sports but in the entire world. It is Iconic. It’s nearly un-American for this team, this franchise, to be so bad for so long.

Once an offensive and defensive juggernaut, now they are reduced to being looked down upon and marked as an automatic win for opposing fan bases each May when the NFL hands out the next season’s schedule.

Owner Mark Davis has a proven willingness to open his checkbook and pay any amount to win; the issue is how he has spent that money in the past.

One need only look to this past season: hiring Chip Kelly as the offensive coordinator and making him the highest-paid OC in the NFL, only to fire him before the season was over, with over two years left on his deal.

Mark Davis has been emphatic that he knows what he doesn’t know; the problem, then, appears to reside in who he listens to.

The Narrative Has Changed

Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek, and minority owner Tom Brady | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Right, wrong, or indifferent, Mark Davis owns this team, but with his faith 100% in Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time, despite his attempt to stay in the background, is front and center. He may be the Silver and Black’s minority owner, but he owns this rebuild.

Brady may choose to stay in the out of the limelight, but it is clear, he is the dominant voice.

I have reported that since Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels arrived and it hasn’t changed. The difference is now, more are aware of it.

Las Vegas Raiders Mark Davis | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Brady’s behind-the-scenes approach isn’t working, and he owes it to Mark Davis to stop acting as if he is passively involved. He’s not.

Brady has worked hard to the greatest, rightly or wrongly, he is all in.

Las Vegas Raiders GM John Spytek, Owner Mark Davis | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Like the best gambler at the Bellagio poker tables, he has taken his NFL legacy and moved all in.

Like Michael Jordan, he will never hurt his legacy as a player. But his legacy will be cemented as a great player, or the best football mind, by what happens next in the desert.

Tom Brady owns what happens moving forward this offseason. Like his career as a player, he’s got to move all in. He will be judged as such, and saving one of the most iconic franchises of all time would send his legacy into the stratosphere of elite greatness that none of us has matched.

Las Vegas Raiders Owner Mark Davis keeping an eye on the Silver and Black practicing. — Las Vegas Raiders Owner Mark Davis | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

Brady is used to long shots; now we will see if he can do it again.

Watch my postgame podcast discussing the new narrative below:

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