The Las Vegas Raiders snapped a 10-game losing streak with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season finale. Las Vegas improved to 3-14 with its first victory since early October. However, it was not enough to save Pete Carroll’s job. The Raiders fired the veteran coach after one tumultuous season.
The team will now begin yet another coaching search. Since moving to Las Vegas six years ago, the Raiders have missed the playoffs five times and cycled through five head coaches. Despite this, the organization has been in rebuild denial. But with Carroll’s dismissal, Las Vegas is acknowledging its failure to self assess last offseason.
“For John Spytek to go forward and say, ‘We’re going to build the right way,’ that, to me, is an indication they knew that they did not do it the right way last year,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on The Insiders.
Pete Carroll is one-and-done with the Raiders
“Pete Carroll was a win-now coach. Refused to play some of the younger players. So many of his staff members… came in and didn’t do a good job. Fired two coordinators. His hand-picked quarterback Geno Smith was not good enough, threw too many interceptions. I could go on and on. The most important thing though, is they’re in a much better position to have long-term success now than they were at any other point this season,” Rapoport added.
Despite Sunday’s win over the Chiefs, Las Vegas has secured the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft. The team is expected to select a quarterback after Smith’s disastrous debut. And fans are hoping the Raiders take Fernando Mendoza first overall.
Las Vegas is also considering trading Maxx Crosby. The team damaged its relationship with the star pass rusher by forcing him to sit out the final two games of the season as it entered full tank mode. Now the Raiders could move on from Crosby just a year after signing him to a $105 million extension.
A blockbuster deal for the Pro Bowl defensive end could yield additional picks to aid in the team’s rebuild. And that draft capital could, in return, make the Raiders’ head coach opening more attractive.
