It hasn’t been a great first year in Las Vegas for head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek. While nobody thought the Las Vegas Raiders had an amazing roster, they likely underestimated just how big the talent gap would be with other teams.
Even amid the 2-12 season, Carroll has favored playing aging veterans over young players. That’s likely to the chagrin of Spytek, who wants to see the players he drafted get more playing time.
According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Spytek and Carroll aren’t on the same page, but he pointed out an interesting note about their contract details.
“Pete Carroll only signed a three-year contract,” Schultz said. “However, the GM John Spytek, also in his first year, signed a five-year deal. And the problem with the Raiders this year, aside from really a lack of talent, is that you have a massive dichotomy, as has been explained to me from several league executives, in Pete Carroll’s philosophy and John Spytek’s philosophy.
“Pete, who’s much older, the oldest coach in the league, and has a shorter deal; he wants to win now. Whereas Spytek is building toward the future. That is one job I am watching very closely.”
Will Spytek Be Retained if Carroll is Fired?
As Schutlz noted, the pairing of Spytek and Carroll isn’t working. The Raiders can’t have a general manager and head coach who don’t have the same goals in mind.
Spytek is on a longer contract, but it likely has a much lower value than what Carroll’s making. That said, Spytek should be the one the Raiders retain. It makes no sense for the team to be so dead set on trying to win with older veterans when they don’t have the talent.
Obviously, every team’s goal is to win, but the Raiders are losing, and they aren’t developing their young players. Spytek has a lot of potential, and it’s difficult to know if he did a good job in the 2025 draft because of how bad the coaching has been.
Plus, even if Carroll can turn things around, he’s already 74 and likely won’t coach past his three-year contract. Spytek is only 45, so he can be around for a long time if he turns out to be a good general manager.
Raiders Should’ve Made Sure Carroll & Spytek Were on Same Page
The fact that the Raiders hired Spytek and Carroll despite the differences in how they wanted to approach the team is another reason why the franchise remains dysfunctional. Las Vegas should’ve paired Spytek with a young head coach and focused on rebuilding.
Instead, they hired the oldest head coach in NFL history, who isn’t interested in a rebuild. Credit to Spytek for not overspending in free agency just to appease Carroll, but the pairing makes no sense at this point. The problem facing Carroll is that Spytek’s philosophy is the only thing that makes sense for the franchise going forward. Perhaps the Raiders move forward with both of them, but that seems less and less likely by the week.
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