The Pete Carroll era with the Las Vegas Raiders is reportedly coming to an end after the Week 18 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. After a disastrous 2025 NFL season, the Silver and Black are expected to go in a different direction.
On Jan. 3, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported, citing sources, that there is the expectation that Carroll will last just one season in Las Vegas, whether that ends with a dismissal or a decision to step away. The Silver and Black is expected to run an extensive coaching search, with minority owner Tom Brady playing a role in the process.
As a result, this feels like the Raiders front office is giving Carroll an option to either leave on his terms or be fired. It will be interesting to see what decision the veteran coach takes, as Las Vegas couldn’t go through another season with Carroll at the helm.
Raiders Linked to Chargers Coach
Once the Raiders make the decision official to move on from Carroll, there will be plenty of names emerging in the coaching rumor mill. One name worth watching is Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.
He has played a major role in turning the Chargers into one of the NFL’s top defenses, even without an abundance of elite talent. Minter is expected to draw strong interest this offseason, though the Raiders could hold an edge for an unusual reason, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
“His staff, with arranged marriages to coordinators Chip Kelly and Pat Graham, never really jelled like it needed to, and there is an expectation that, with Kelly already gone, the rest of the group will be cleaned out after Sunday’s game against the Chiefs,” Breer wrote in his column published on Jan. 2. “The next steps will be interesting, with Tom Brady likely to have a big voice, alongside GM John Spytek, on what the franchise looks for.
“Brady and Spytek’s Michigan connection to Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, especially given the success of Mike Macdonald in Seattle (Minter and Macdonald worked in Baltimore together, and Minter succeeded Macdonald at Michigan), are worth noting.”
Raiders Want to Lose in Week 18 Against the Chiefs
Aside from Carroll, the Raiders are also looking to secure the No. 1 pick with a loss to the Chiefs. ESPN reporter Brooke Pryor shared what the Raiders’ ownership, including Tom Brady, is thinking as they head into their final game of the 2025 season.
“[Raiders] ownership [is] telling the coaching staff and the players that they want the No. 1 overall pick above all else,” Pryor said in a video posted by ESPN on Dec. 30. “… Things have not gone well, but it leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth.
“If you’re one of those Raiders players that is hearing from ownership, ‘Look, we don’t want you to win. It is better for us if you lose, and then we can focus on the future,’ especially because there are definitely guys in that locker room that are not a part of the Raiders’ future equation.
“They don’t really care about the future, but Tom Brady and those owners, they would like to win. They would like to have that No. 1 overall pick when the draft is in Pittsburgh, just in a couple of months.”
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