The Las Vegas Raiders face somewhat of an uphill battle just days into the offseason.
With the news of former head coach Antonio Pierce’s firing on Tuesday, the Raiders are officially in the market for a new leader to guide the team in 2025 and beyond.
They now compete with five other teams for some of the top coaching candidates available, and it has been confirmed that minority owner Tom Brady will play a role in deciding who ultimately gets the nod for the job.
The only issue for Brady and company is how desirable the Raiders job is. According to Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport, the answer to that question will not make luring a top candidate easy.
In Davenport’s ranking of the available coaching jobs in the NFL, the Raiders finished fifth out of the six openings, only ahead of the New Orleans Saints.
“The quarterback situation in Las Vegas is a hot mess, although the sixth pick in the draft could put the Raiders in the hunt for a top-three prospect at the position,” Davenport wrote. “The Raiders were 27th in the league in total offense, dead last in the league in rushing and 29th in scoring.”
Having no clear-cut path to a franchise quarterback will harm the Raiders in the eyes of coaching candidates. While development can be made easy with the presence of Pro Bowl tight end Brock Bowers and 1,000-yard receiver Jakobi Meyers, the rest of the roster is largely a blank slate.
The defense was also a point of emphasis for Davenport. While the team has a solid defensive line centered around star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, other reliable starters like linebacker Robert Spillane and safety Tre’Von Moehrig are free agents, prompting an overhaul almost everywhere else.
“The Raiders do have cap space with which to attack free agency—over $107 million,” added Davenport. “But Vegas needs multiple players on both sides of the ball, the team may have to pay a “bad team premium” to land impact free agents, and general manager Tom Telesco’s track record of player acquisitions isn’t great.”
“This is a rebuild. The question is whether Raiders owner Mark Davis realizes that—and has the patience for one.”
On one hand, the Raiders’ current resources in free agency and the draft represent a largely blank canvas for a new head coach. While players like Bowers and Crosby are obvious centerpieces, the rest of the team can be assembled largely to the coach’s liking.
The other side to that equation is just how much work needs to be done in a limited time frame. Since moving to Las Vegas in 2020, the new coach will be the fifth that the Raiders have hired, suggesting that patience is not a guarantee.
Expect the Raiders to be in on a number of top candidates in this coaching cycle. It just would not be surprising if the interest was not mutual.
