Any list of potential sellers before Tuesday’s 4pm ET trade deadline likely has the Las Vegas Raiders near the top of the list.
Pete Carroll isn’t buying it.
“It never crosses my mind,” Carroll said Monday, via the Las Vegas Journal-Review . “We’re trying to get better, going forward, right now and see what we can do.”
The 74-year-old head coach is thinking more about the short-term than the long-term and believes an incremental step forward now can help the Raiders build a solid foundation.
At 2-6 after Sunday’s narrow overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Raiders have far too many holes to fill at midseason to expect Carroll and GM John Spytek to turn the ship around in 2025. That won’t stop the veteran coach from suddenly leaving.
“There doesn’t seem to be much going on right now, but we’re listening,” he said. “Johnny is racing like crazy with his guys to get to any opportunity.
In Carroll’s first season in Vegas, he brought in a bunch of players that fit his style of football. Still, most of those moves didn’t pan out, as the veterans struggled on both sides of the ball. Generally, teams will lean toward youth in a lost season and move on from veterans who might prevent a first- or second-year player from getting snaps.
Sitting five games back in the win column in the AFC West, Carroll didn’t sound like he was revising his expectations.
“The answer is, ‘We always compete.’ We’re racing at every turn and there’s a chance the deadline will come,” Carroll said. “Maybe there’s something there…
“You’re either competing or you’re not, it’s that simple.”
It’s one thing to compete. It’s one thing to have the horses to be competitive. The Raiders lack talent in key areas. Sometimes all the competitors in the world cannot overcome this gap.
The Raiders have several mobile players before the deadline. Unsurprisingly, they won’t be moving Maxx Crosby – a mainstay. However, a player like Jakobi Meyers, who has requested a trade, could be moved since he is not part of the long-term plans. Yet the Raiders have avoided making a move thus far. We’ll see if that tune changes in the next few hours.