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Posted on: January 3, 2026, 02:31h.
Last updated on: January 3, 2026, 02:33h.
- Raiders look to finish last and lock down the No. 1 draft pick
- RB Jeanty finishing season strong
- Rumours swirling about head coach Carroll’s future, more Brady involvement in team decisions
What’s next for the 2-14 Las Vegas Raiders, as another NFL regular season ends? Stories about a trade of Pro Bowl DE Maxx Crosby. League-wide chatter about head coach Pete Carroll being fired at the end of this season. Reports about minority owner (and Fox NFL broadcaster) Tom Brady about to take an even more active role in Raiders’ off-field decisions.
For Raiders fans, and bettors, the focus today is more on finishing last in the NFL, locking up the No. 1 selection in this spring’s draft, and the next steps in what’s clearly going to need to be a rebuild. That rebuild will start at the quarterback position. So that starts with Indiana Hoosiers’ QB Fernando Mendoza (Heisman Trophy winner and AP College Football Player of the Year), who DraftKings has as -450 to go No. 1 (then QB Dante Moore, +450 at No. 2).
Mendoza just led his team to a dominant Rose Bowl win. A question is whether the Raiders move on from QB Geno Smith, who leads the NFL in interceptions (17), and will sit out tomorrow’s Chiefs’ game with an ankle injury.
Chatter About Trading Crosby
This morning’s ESPN Index has the Raiders at 88.5% to choose No. 1, the New York Giants at 11.5%. If the Raiders beat the Chiefs tomorrow and the Giants lose to the Cowboys then New York gets the pick. The Cowboys are -190 moneyline favourites at FanDuel, the Giants are at +160. The Chiefs are -255 ML favourites at FanDuel, the Raiders +210.
Now, online chatter is just that. As Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson told reporters a few days ago, after he was asked about media chatter that he wanted out of Baltimore: “There’s always noise in the National Football League.” This morning’s chatter is about Crosby, the star edge rusher, who is looking at knee surgery (and reportedly was not happy about the organization’s decision to pull him from last weekend’s pivotal game against the Giants, pivotal from the perspective of needing to lose that game, to stand a better chance of grabbing that No. 1 pick?). Stories are that he is likely a trade candidate out of Las Vegas.
Positioning for Mendoza
This from Carroll yesterday, when asked about coaching:
I love coaching. I really love being on the field. I love the strategy part of it, all the planning and all that. There’s been a lot of games, a lot of preparations. That still draws me in, the curiosity of how you can make the next right call or the right move with personnel, or the right decision. Those are still really intriguing to me. And, I’m basically pretty curious. I keep looking for something better in all ways we’re doing things, and that really generates the feeling of why I love this game.”
If the Raiders fire Carroll, and Brady indeed takes on a more direct role in team decisions, the Raiders at least know they have a building block in running back Ashton Jeanty. The rookie from Boise State was mentioned in the same sentence as Saquon Barkley when the Raiders chose him in the draft last year, and while he hasn’t dominated, he still has 1,227 total receiving and rushing yards, and 10 total touchdowns, this season.
More Brady Involvement
NFL Network journalists Ian Rapoport and Tom Peliserro said this about Brady:
“Legendary quarterback Tom Brady and his business partner Egon Durban have wielded significant influence since becoming Raiders minority owners last year. Brady is close with former Michigan teammate and current GM John Spytek, with both serving as the sounding board for one another. While Spytek was Brady’s GM target last year, Brady’s prime target for head coach was Ben Johnson, who took the Bears job instead. Expect Brady — who has spent little time in the Raiders building as he balances his broadcasting duties on Fox and other business interests — to increase his presence as the decision closes in.”
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Mark Keast
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