John Spytek and Pete Carroll make one thing very clear before heading into the 2025 NFL Draft
With any new regime, there is always the big question, especially when things start to get closer to the draft — who makes the final decision on the pick? With this regime, you have one former head coach of the Seattle Seahawks in Pete Carroll, who has put together some very good draft classes. And then […]
With any new regime, there is always the big question, especially when things start to get closer to the draft — who makes the final decision on the pick?
With this regime, you have one former head coach of the Seattle Seahawks in Pete Carroll, who has put together some very good draft classes. And then on the other hand, you have a guy in John Spytek, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant general manager, who has never had the final say, but has helped put together good draft classes there and with the Denver Broncos.
And, the general manager, who is Spytek, usually has the final say over the roster. So, who does this time when it comes to the draft, with this being a brand new regime? What happens if the two don't agree on something? What happens when they have a player ranked ahead of or behind another, who could be the best player on the board?
Well, don't worry about it.
"What I would say about that is we're going to work it out, that's all you need to know," Carroll said on Friday. "We’re going to work it out. We're dedicated to doing that, and it will be consensus on everything we do."
The Raiders have to get this draft right, as the new regime wants to get right to winning, and take no time in between seasons to do that. Carroll has said that this season is a win-now season in terms of getting this thing back on track. And that doesn't mean a win-now Super Bowl season, but a win-now compete season — they don't believe they will be finishing with four or five wins.
So agreeing on everything and having chemistry about it all is very important to the process.
"And the guys that we don't have a consensus on, we probably won't take it's been my experience,
too," Spytek butted in. "They're probably not right for the Raiders and for us. I mean, it's been
an awesome experience so far. Lots of great communication, thoughts, sharing ideas, and different
perspectives. I pride myself on being an open-minded person.
"I've gotten to know Coach [Carroll] really
well. He's certainly an open-minded person, and there are no personal feelings in this or anything like that.
We both have our thoughts and our experiences, but I think the cool thing is that we share a lot of things
in common about what we're looking for in players and who we want to add to this organization, which
has made us a pretty good team so far."
There are quite a few holes on this roster, so the No. 6 pick and who they take there is very important for both now and the future of the franchise. The Raiders have to make sure they are in lock-step for this pick — they must be.
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