INDIANAPOLIS — The Las Vegas Raiders’ Matthew Stafford dream ended Friday morning when the quarterback agreed to a restructured deal to stay put with the Los Angeles Rams.
But the week here wasn’t a total waste.
The Raiders sent a larger crew than usual to the NFL Scouting Combine. General manager John Spytek, head coach Pete Carroll, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, the position coaches and several other members of the coaching staff and front office were in attendance.
Naturally, Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed were also on the ground and never slept. Through conversations with executives, coaches, agents and cocktail waitresses throughout the week, they gathered intel about the Raiders’ plans for free agency, the trade market and the 2025 draft.
Here are eight things they heard:
Raiders put themselves in a great position to get Stafford but fell short
Stafford decided not to uproot his family in the twilight of his career, despite the chance to likely make more money with the Raiders or the New York Giants. The Raiders, led by minority owner Tom Brady, made a strong pitch and were willing to give Stafford a two-year deal for around $90 to 100 million once the trade parameters were worked out, according to league sources.
The Raiders were not going to give up the No. 6 pick, league sources said, but a second-round pick may have done it once the Rams knew Stafford wanted out. But the Rams stayed in contact with him the last couple of days after they allowed him to test the market with the Giants and Raiders, and Stafford was unable to walk away, choosing home and a team that nearly beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs.
Brady — who bumped into Stafford in Montana and went skiing with him recently — and Spytek prioritized Stafford because they are not super high on Sam Darnold or the other potential free agents. There are members of the Raiders’ offensive coaching staff who prefer adding a proven veteran quarterback to taking a dice roll on a rookie quarterback, according to league sources. The 2025 draft class isn’t perceived to be deep at quarterback, and there’s a chance that the only options worth drafting in the first round will be gone by the time the Raiders are on the clock.
The Raiders want to win now while they build up the roster, and they thought Stafford uniquely gave them that push. Now, they have to explore alternative options.
Raiders plan to extend Maxx Crosby and more takeaways from the NFL combine
Raiders are shopping Michael Mayer and are open to other trade discussions
The Raiders have had discussions with teams who have interest in tight end Michael Mayer, according to league sources. Mayer hasn’t had the impact the Raiders hoped for when he was drafted in the second round in 2023. He had just 27 catches for 304 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games as a rookie. He missed six games due to personal reasons in 2024 and was delegated to a marginal role due to the ascent of tight end Brock Bowers, who was named a first-team All-Pro.
Mayer will be on a team-friendly rookie contract for two more seasons and there are several teams who thought highly of him as a prospect. With Bowers in tow, it could make more sense for the Raiders to trade Mayer for assets rather than having him locked into a relatively small role.
Running back Zamir White is also believed to be available if some teams want to take a chance on a 2022 fourth-round pick who had some great moments in 2023 before falling off due to scheme, vision and injuries last season.
As far as the 2025 NFL Draft is concerned, the Raiders are too early in the stages of evaluating the prospects to know what they ideally want to do with the No. 6 pick. Trading up and trading down are on the table.
“I wouldn’t rule out anything,” Spytek said.
Early impressions of the quarterback draft class have been a mixed bag
Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders are widely considered to be the top two quarterbacks in this draft class.
But the gap has seemingly widened and the sense among other teams is that the likelihood of Sanders being available when the Raiders are set to be on the clock at pick No. 6 has increased.
Now that the Giants didn’t land Stafford, many teams are convinced they will attempt to trade up from No. 3 to No. 1 to get Ward. They are also going to kick the tires on Aaron Rodgers.
The Raiders met with both Ward and Sanders — and several other quarterbacks, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, and Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart — at the combine. The team put a lot of stock into those meetings.
“To me, that’s a hugely important part and may be the most important part, especially at quarterback,” Spytek said. “We get a little bit caught up in how far they can throw it as opposed to how they think about it and how they process it and how they lead it.”
According to league sources, the Raiders came away particularly impressed with Milroe and Ewers when going over X’s and O’s and film, though the No. 6 pick would be too rich of a slot to take either one.
Raiders like their young pieces on the offensive line
The cupboard on offense is not empty. Bowers may be the best tight end in the NFL and Carroll believes that the Raiders have a solid foundation for their offensive line in left tackle Kolton Miller, center/guard Jackson Powers-Johnson, guard Dylan Parham and right tackle DJ Glaze.
“We’ve got a young group on the offensive line that’s got an opportunity to be really formidable,” Carroll said. “The trenches can be a really good part of our team. We’re counting on that. We will not be able to run the football like we want if those guys up front can’t hold up their end of it. You haven’t seen the best of these guys. They’re just getting started.”
But the Raiders still need a lot of help on offense. Quarterback is the biggest need, but they also could use a starting-caliber running back, guard and receiver.
Las Vegas wants a No. 1 receiver
The Raiders feel Jakobi Meyers is a good No. 2 option and that Tre Tucker is a solid No. 3 receiver, but they’re lacking a true No. 1 wideout.
Depending on whether the Cincinnati Bengals franchise tag receiver Tee Higgins, sign him to an extension or let him test the open market, he’d be the top veteran option. There are other quality receivers such as Cooper Kupp and Stefon Diggs who are available, but they aren’t “X” receivers who possess the size, speed and separation skills to thrive when primarily lined up outside.
Perhaps the Raiders could find a player in that mold for cheap in the draft, but those are hard to come by.
Brady’s influence is legit, but Spytek and Carroll will have autonomy
Brady’s influence within the franchise has already been talked about ad nauseam. And while it’s legitimate, that doesn’t mean Spytek and Carroll are his puppets. They remain autonomous in how they go about both their day-to-day activities and map out their long-term vision.
“He’s really clear in his vision that he has for how he will hope to see this go, and how he would like to influence it wherever he can,” Carroll said. “There’s no mistaking it at all. And so I’m proud to represent the way he sees it and the way he thinks and look forward to making him feel real proud of what we’re all about.”
It’s also clear that Kelly’s influence is substantial. He’s taken the reins during several prospect meetings at the combine and also held an offensive staff meeting, according to league sources. That’s not unusual, but it shows how much trust he has from Carroll within this process.
Brady, Kelly, Carroll, Spytek and quarterback coach Greg Olsen will all ultimately influence the Raiders’ direction at quarterback.
There will be a much greater investment in analytics
The last few Raiders head coaches have all struggled mightily with foundational game management skills such as proper timeout and challenge usage, fourth-down decision-making and managing the clock. Matt Sheldon, who had led game management since 2022, wasn’t retained this offseason. The Raiders hired Mark Thewes last month as their senior vice president of football operations to replace him.
Thewes was most recently the Denver Broncos’ vice president of football operations and compliance from 2020 to ’24, but he spent 16 years with the franchise. He overlapped with Spytek, who was a scout for the Broncos from 2013 to ’15. Thewes will wear multiple hats including assisting in game management, the use of analytics and the overall organization of the front office.
“It’s as important of a hire as I could make,” Spytek said Tuesday. “Mark and I really had a connection when I was there (in Denver) for those three years. … His knowledge across an organization was really amazing to me. His vision, his ingenuity, the innovation, the way he thinks. That we can install it with the Raiders is going to be great. He’s a nice, calming presence for me. He’s structured. He’s organized. I can be freewheeling and instinctive sometimes, and so he’s a little bit of a nice balance to me. I’m really grateful that he thought enough of this opportunity to join us.”
Thewes will work closely with Spytek and the personnel department and Carroll and the coaching staff. The plan is to get creative and think outside of the box, including the use of tools such as artificial intelligence. The addition of minority owners Michael Meldman and Egon Durban last year, in particular, helped precipitate the Raiders making a greater investment in analytics.
“We’re looking to kind of build that space out and (use it to) assist (us in) any way it can,” Spytek said. “We’ve got an interesting ownership group where there’s some of them that work in that tech space, too. And so, we’re kind of just at the genesis of that and coming up with ideas, but I hope that it can be a big part of what we do to make us much more efficient.”
The sense of urgency is real
Carroll doesn’t have time for half-stepping. He’ll turn 74 in September, and he wants to win — right now.
“It should weigh into every single decision we make,” Carroll said. “We’re trying to take this as far as we can as soon as we possibly can. Why would we do anything but that? I’m not looking for any grace period or give me a few years to get it going. I don’t think that way at all. I think about today, tomorrow, and take it one step at a time. We’ll see what happens.”
The Raiders did well in the recent NFLPA report cards, so the culture under former GM Tom Telesco and former coach Antonio Pierce was fine last year. They just didn’t win enough games.
The Raiders have significant draft capital and over $96.4 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap, so they’ll have plenty of resources to make some big moves and try to bring Carroll’s vision to life.
(Top photo of Matthew Stafford: Alex Gallardo / Imagn Images)
