Other NFL team previews: 32. Dolphins | 31. Jets | 30. Cardinals | 29. Browns | 28. ***** ans | 27. Raiders
This was the Las Vegas Raiders' plan a year ago: A team with no realistic chance of getting out of last place in the AFC West hired the oldest coach in NFL history and traded a valuable third-round draft pick for a middle-of-the-road quarterback about to turn 35 years old.
In retrospect, it was bizarre but also on-brand for the Raiders. Since the Raiders made the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season, they have employed 15 head coaches, including interims and new coach Klint Kubiak, they've had 15 double-digit-loss seasons, and they've made only two playoff appearances, with zero wins. They haven't won a division ***** le in that time but have finished in last place in the division nine times. Investing in Pete Carroll and Geno Smith made no sense, but it has been decades since the Raiders made sense.
That's what made this offseason a nice surprise: The Raiders operated like a competent NFL team.
Carroll didn't work out, and he was replaced by Kubiak, the type of young, respected offensive mind that a team in the gutter should take a shot on. The roster was upgraded with a lot of big contracts, but nothing that should turn out to be a long-term hindrance or an embarrassment on the level of some other Raiders free-agent additions (Christian Wilkins, anyone?). The Raiders' trade/non-trade of Maxx Crosby was a messy affair, but everyone blamed the Ravens for it falling apart, and Las Vegas ended the ordeal by retaining Crosby, one of the best players in football.
This was the Las Vegas Raiders' plan a year ago: A team with no realistic chance of getting out of last place in the AFC West hired the oldest coach in NFL history and traded a valuable third-round draft pick for a middle-of-the-road quarterback about to turn 35 years old.
In retrospect, it was bizarre but also on-brand for the Raiders. Since the Raiders made the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season, they have employed 15 head coaches, including interims and new coach Klint Kubiak, they've had 15 double-digit-loss seasons, and they've made only two playoff appearances, with zero wins. They haven't won a division ***** le in that time but have finished in last place in the division nine times. Investing in Pete Carroll and Geno Smith made no sense, but it has been decades since the Raiders made sense.
That's what made this offseason a nice surprise: The Raiders operated like a competent NFL team.
Carroll didn't work out, and he was replaced by Kubiak, the type of young, respected offensive mind that a team in the gutter should take a shot on. The roster was upgraded with a lot of big contracts, but nothing that should turn out to be a long-term hindrance or an embarrassment on the level of some other Raiders free-agent additions (Christian Wilkins, anyone?). The Raiders' trade/non-trade of Maxx Crosby was a messy affair, but everyone blamed the Ravens for it falling apart, and Las Vegas ended the ordeal by retaining Crosby, one of the best players in football.
4 months ago
