Mailbag: What grade do Spytek & Carroll deserve?

Returning Raider Nation’s questions for the week

The offseason is officially winding down as free agency is in the books (for the most part), the 2025 NFL Draft was two weeks ago, and the Las Vegas Raiders are beginning their minicamps and OTAs this weekend. So, this week’s mailbag will focus on putting a bow on new general manager John Spytek’s and new head coach Pete Carroll’s first offseason in Las Vegas.

Q: How are you feeling about the Raiders’ offseason efforts so far? Without grading on a curve, what grade do you give it?

A: In full disclosure, I’m in the camp of people who don’t think free agency or draft grades mean much until the players hit the field. But I do understand the logic behind them as a way to add context to an initial reaction or thoughts on the moves.

With that in mind, I’ll give Spytek and Carroll a B-. I think they deserve a C+ for free agency and a B for the draft to average out at a B-.

While it’s understandable that Spytek and Carroll weren’t going to overpay for players in free agency, they did lose quite a bit of talent defensively and sat on a lot of cap space to earn a slightly above-average mark. For the draft, I like the haul overall, but also would have preferred to see them target more defensive players.

I still have questions about what the plan is at nickelback, linebacker, nose tackle and free safety to keep Syptek and Carroll out of the ‘A’ range heading into training camp.

A: You touched on it, it’s easily ownership.

I feel pretty confident that Tom Telesco would still be the general manager had Tom Brady not come aboard, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if Mark Davis stuck with Antonio Pierce for another year. So, Brady becoming a minority owner had a domino effect on the entire offseason and ensuing moves.

Q: Do you think the Raiders will sign or trade for a veteran CB? Jalen Ramsey sure would be nice.

A: I’d be surprised if Las Vegas traded for Ramsey, considering how the new regime has operated so far this offseason. Reports surfaced this week that the Dolphins aren’t willing to eat some of his contract, and that’s been a roadblock in trade negotiations.

As mentioned above, the Raiders have been bargain hunting this spring, so I don’t foresee them trading for a 30-year-old (who turns 31 in October) that is currently the third-highest-paid corner in the league on a dollar-per-year basis.

I touched on this last week, I think signing someone like Mike Hilton to play nickel is more likely. Hilton is also on the wrong side of 30, but he’d be much cheaper than Ramsey and wouldn’t cost any draft capital.

A: I’d pass on Jadeveon Clowney if I’m Spytek. He’s 32 and battled injuries throughout his career, including missing three games last year. The Raiders have a lot of young defensive linemen who would benefit more from the extra reps, and it would be more beneficial to give Malcolm Koonce as many snaps as possible to evaluate him this season, in my opinion.

Q: Do you feel 12 personnel with Michael Mayer or ‘11.5’ personnel with Jack Bech will ultimately be more effective this season?

Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images

A: Bech and Mayer can be on the field together in 12 personnel, so I don’t think the coaching staff would necessarily have to choose between the two. In fact, I’d like that personnel grouping a lot on early downs and in the red zone to help run the ball since both guys can block and are good on contested catches.

But, to answer the question, we’ll assume Tre Tucker steps into a bigger role this season and is the second wide receiver next to Jakobi Meyers. Chip Kelly does have a good track record of maximizing two-tight end sets, and I think Mayer’s experience gives him a better chance of being more effective than the rookie. That said, the third-year pro does need to take the next step in his development and, hopefully, he’s in a much better headspace this year.

Q: So is Michael Mayer going to stick around? Same with Aidan O’Connell?

A: I would think if either got traded this offseason, it would have happened no later than during the draft. Kelly likes to use 12 personnel, and even though he was drafted two general managers ago, I get the sense the organization is willing to give Mayer at least one more year before looking to move on from him.

As for O’Connell, Cam Miller and/or Bradley Carter would have to look pretty amazing in practice for the Raiders to trade the backup quarterback. In my opinion, it’s more likely he’d get dealt next offseason if the front office drafts a young signal-caller to develop behind Geno Smith.

Q: Is Christian Wilkins broken?

A: I know it’s not everyone in the fanbase, but I’m struggling to wrap my head around some people’s feelings towards Wilkins this offseason. He was pretty good before getting injured last year. While he suffered a setback in his recovery, multiple beat writers have said the team expects him to be ready for the start of the season still.

It would be nice to have him out there for minicamp and OTAs, but the Raiders don’t need Wilkins to be on the field in the spring; they need him on the field in the fall. If the veteran begins training camp on the PUP list, that’s when I’d begin to get nervous.

Q: More realistic expectations for the defense: 40 sacks or 10 interceptions?

A: This one is an easy answer for me: 40 sacks.

Granted, Las Vegas only had 37 sacks and had exactly 10 interceptions last year. However, that was with Maxx Crosby, Koonce and Wilkins all suffering injuries. Also, nine of the defense’s 10 picks aren’t on the roster anymore, with Jack Jones (three), Tre’von Moehrig (two), Robert Spillane (two), Nate Hobbs (one) and K’Lavon Chassion (one) all being let go or leaving in free agency. The only returner who had an interception last year was Thomas Harper (one), and Jeremy Chinn (one) is the only free-agent signing who had a pick in 2024.

A: Yes, I think Koonce will be healthy and the Week 1 starter opposite Crosby. Koonce will be over a year removed from the torn ACL by then and should be ready to go by training camp.

I have no idea what Carroll’s plan is when it comes to Crosby’s snap count, but I think last year taught Crosby that he needs to “pace himself” moving forward, so to speak. I’d expect Crosby to take some snaps off on early downs during the second and third quarters.

Raheem Mostert or whoever the second running back ends up being will definitely get a good amount of touches, especially early in the season, as Ashton Jeanty gets his feet wet in the NFL. However, I still expect Jeanty to be the lead back and have the most carries on the team.

A: Cam Miller has better odds of winning that distinction than Tommy Mellott. If you mean that Mellott would informally be the emergency quarterback, that is an option. However, Jakobi Meyers was also a quarterback in college, albeit only for a year and on the scout team, and served as the emergency QB last year.

An argument could be made that with Mellott on the roster, it’d be better to keep Meyers at wide receiver. But if it gets to that situation where two quarterbacks go down on gameday, the Raiders are kind of screwed anyway. So I could see the coaching staff preferring to give the job to the veteran, not wanting to put too much on the rookie’s plate and throw him into the fire.

Q: When the Raiders and the Cowboys play this season, who will win & why would it be the Cowboys?

A: This is from my Cowboys fan wife, and I’m throwing her a bone since it’s her first Mother’s Day weekend.

Probably because Jerry Jones went “all-in” this offseason, trading for a backup quarterback, Joe Milton, so he can have something to talk about during his weekly radio hit, on top of trading another draft pick for a headcase wide receiver that other teams didn’t want to deal with and is on a contract year in George Pickens.

And that’s not to be outdone by signing Javonte Williams, whose production has regressed since his rookie season, and Miles Sanders, who struggled to get playing time in Carolina last year, at running back. Not to be forgotten is Jones’ choice not to bring in a left tackle after Tyler Guyton struggled as a rookie, since he’s undoubtedly going to turn it around in year two.

How ‘bout them Cowboys!

That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays. Sign up and go to the comments section.