Why Every Step of Raiders' Rebuild Will Be Significant

As the Las Vegas Raiders continue to draw closer to training camp, their progress on and off the field has been noteworthy. Las Vegas has made vast and swift improvements to a roster and coaching staff that were desperately in need of an overhaul at the end of the 2025 season.

After a 4-13 season in 2025 and a 3-14 record last season, the Raiders' front office has effectively cleaned house. They have begun undoing years of mistakes made by previous regimes. There are many necessary steps to rebuild the Raiders. Some are more nuanced than others.

Historic Raiders

The coaching staff and roster changes the Raiders have made this offseason will be what makes or breaks the 2026 and Las Vegas' immediate future. Those two win football games. However, Las Vegas' issues over the past few seasons run much deeper than football itself.

Las Vegas' poor rosters and coaching staffs over the past few seasons have led to nearly 30 combined losses in the past two seasons. Yet, overall, the Raiders have become synonymous with losing and dysfunction. They must fix the culture first, then sustainable winning will come.

Shield or No Shield?

The arrival of Klint Kubiak is of great importance to the Raiders moving forward. A small but notable part of Kubiak's hiring is his familiarity with the Raiders' history. He lived it for years as the son of a successful former head coach in the league who regularly faced the Raiders.

Kubiak's understanding and respect for one of the most storied franchises in league history led him to remove the Raiders' shield from players' helmets during much of the early offseason workout programs. It may have seemed insignificant, but it pointed to a larger reason.

Win, lose, or draw, the Raiders will always be the Raiders. As Mark Davis said when Kubiak was hired, "There are 31 other teams, and then there are the Raiders."

Removing the shield from helmets was a small nod to Davis' point. The Raiders will always be the Raiders. By removing the shield now, it starts Kubiak's tenure on a different note, before they turn things around on the field during the 2026 regular season and beyond.

The shields were returned to the players' helmets, but not until Kubiak and his coaching staff felt they had been earned. Kubiak explained what went into the process shortly after minicamp.

"I just think we knew from the start that we were all just trying to do our part to make the Raiders better and to earn the shield, and like I said before, our guys have really worked their tail off, and what we've asked them to do as coaches has been a lot this time of year, and they've bought in and they're working their tail off,” Kubiak said.

“So, I thought they definitely earned that thing, but that's an everyday thing for us to earn the respect of the organization, of the Raiders that have come before us, players and coaches, and that's something that we take really seriously."

"And we spent a lot of time this offseason talking about the history of the team and getting our players familiar with who are these faces around the building, who are the great Raiders by position, and that's something really important to me that we educate the team on the history of this place."

The Raiders' front office took care of a significant part of the turnaround by making the necessary moves to build a more competitive roster. For the first time in a long time, Las Vegas has made several respectable moves in a short amount of time.

It seems that, regardless of what happens, the 2026 Raiders will be better than the past few teams the Raiders have trotted out. Still, there is more to turning around what has been one of the worst teams in the league since 2020, technically longer.

It is still early in the offseason. It is also still very early in Las Vegas' rebuilding process. In their second season under general manager John Spytek and their first under Kubiak, the Raiders have had a productive offseason, giving them a clean slate.

The process of making players earn their shield may seem insignificant to those on the outside looking in, but it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows a thing or two about the Raiders' history. Historically, the Raiders are not just a football team; they are a mentality. A way of life.

Despite the clear improvement the Raiders have made this summer, Kubiak was cautious, noting that a few things remain to be figured out. Kubiak elaborated, explaining that training camp, when the players are allowed to fully suit up and play at full speed, will be a determining factor.

"We're an improved team. Our guys have taken the coaching. They're doing everything we ask them to do. I definitely see an improvement from where we started, and this time of year, you can kind of get lulled to sleep when the pads aren't on. So, what team that we're going to become, we'll find out come training camp when we put pads on," Kubiak said.

“There's so many guys that are maybe doing great right now that will disappear come the fall. There's so many guys that you maybe not notice as much, but all of a sudden, whether it's a running back or an offensive lineman or defensive lineman, now that guy really shows his value."

"So, you get what you can out of this time of year, and then the real evaluation comes with those 11 practices before we play that first preseason game."

The Raiders are on their way. It remains to be seen if Kubiak will use the shield process moving forward or not, but there are many reasons for Kubiak to continue with it moving forward.

It is a small reminder to every player on the team that no matter what, the Raiders are, and will always be, the Raiders.

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