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With the new football season approaching, we welcome Matt Holder of Silver and Black Pride — our sister SBNation site covering the Las Vegas Raiders — for Five Questions with the Enemy.
1. How much of the Raiders’ offseason strategy hinges on the quarterback decision, and does every other move take a backseat until that’s settled?
“Surprised” wouldn’t be doing justice to how I would feel if the Raiders don’t take Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in April. From what I can tell, the Raiders have already made their quarterback decision, and now it’s just a matter of using free agency and their nine other draft picks to fill out the rest of the roster. As far as the rest of the offseason hinging on the quarterback decision, I think we’ve already seen that dictate the Raiders’ first big move by hiring Klint Kubiak as head coach. Mendoza is widely considered a great fit in the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay-style of offense, and Las Vegas interviewed several candidates from that coaching tree, including Kubiak.
2. Which current veterans are actually part of the long-term plan, and who’s more valuable as a trade chip or cap casualty?
I’m assuming this is an underlying Maxx Crosby question, LOL! I don’t know what will happen, and I can see both sides of the argument. Crosby is a good leader and, by far, the defense’s best player. However, he turns 29 in August and the Raiders are staring at a two-year rebuild where getting a couple of first-round picks would be hard to pass up for an aging and reportedly disgruntled player. If I’m calling the shots and can get a couple of assets to build for the future, I’m trading the five-time Pro Bowler.
As for the rest of the roster, Las Vegas has several veteran free agents that they can let walk with minimal impact, like linebackers Devin White and Elandon Roberts, guard Dylan Parham and edge Malcolm Koonce. Also, quarterback Geno Smith is expected to be a cap casualty to save $8 million. The front office’s biggest decision is what to do with cornerback Eric Stokes, who was signed in free agency last year after being cast aside by the Green Bay Packers, but had a career-year in 2025.
Other than that, there aren’t many major decisions to make when it comes to the veterans on the roster.
3. What do you feel the new coaching staff will want the Raiders’ offensive identity to be, and does the current roster even fit that vision?
Kubiak was known for sticking to the running game this season, even if it wasn’t working in the first couple of quarters. So, I think the offense will operate through last year’s No. 6 overall pick, running back Ashton Jeanty, and then feature a heavy dose of play-action. That’s a good way to ease a young quarterback/Mendoza along. To do that, the Raiders are going to need to improve the offensive line, which will likely be done during free agency.
4. Is the offensive line a “fix it now” priority, or will they gamble on development while focusing resources elsewhere?
Building on my previous answer, part of the reason I think Las Vegas will use free agency to find offensive linemen is that the roster already has a couple of young, developmental linemen in 2025 third-round picks Caleb Rogers and Charles Grant. Also, Jackson Powers-Johnson and DJ Glaze will be entering year three next season. So, I think general manager John Spytek will lean toward the “fix it now” strategy to give Mendoza the best chance at having immediate success, rather than continuing to take fliers on more young guys.
5. On defense, do you feel the Raiders are looking to build around one cornerstone unit, or is this a full teardown and reset?
They have nine players who are about to hit free agnecy and I would consider having a significant role on this past season’s defense, and that doesn’t include Crosby. Especially if Crosby gets flipped for draft picks, it’s looking more like a full teardown and reset on defense in the desert. This also depends on who they are as the defensive coordinator, which hasn’t been announced at the time of writing. But there will be a new DC in Vegas since Patrick Graham joined Mike McCarthy’s staff with the Pittsburgh Steelers.