Despite a dismal season, the Raiders boast elite talent and cap space, making their potential coaching vacancy the second-most coveted in the NFL.
To put it simply, 2025 hasn’t gone the way Las Vegas Raiders fans hoped or expected. Despite heading into the season with hype around being a sleeper team that could even sneak into the postseason, the Raiders currently hold the worst record in football with just one game to play.
If you’re going to be a bad football team, you might as well do it right, and you have to give the Raiders props for that this season. Their disastrous 2025 season will be remembered, but the hope is that it is setting them up with a much better future, a future in which they draft their franchise quarterback.
It’s why, despite holding a record of 2-14, the Raiders remain one of the most attractive teams for head coaches this offseason. It’s jumping the gun a bit to assume that current head coach Pete Carroll will for certain be fired after his first season, but one can’t deny that the signs are pointing towards just a one-year tenure.
Las Vegas brought in Carroll soon after the 2024 season concluded, and he brought his former quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks, Geno Smith, with him. It hasn’t worked out for either Carroll or Smith, as they haven’t been able to bring anything close to winning football to Las Vegas despite setting the expectations themselves.
Because of this, a fresh start would be nice for the Raiders, both in terms of the head coach and in the quarterback room. A new face coming into the Raiders QB room is almost certain with their current draft position, meaning they have a decision to make with their head coach.
If they do decide to cut ties with Carroll after the season, Las Vegas won’t be short of options ot fill his place. In a Bleacher Report article by Alex Kay, the Raiders were labeled as the second-most attractive potential head coach vacancy in football.
“With other elite pieces like Brock Bowers, Maxx Crosby, Kolton Miller and Ashton Jeanty already in place, plus a whopping $121 million in cap space to burn in free agency, the Raiders could boast one of the league's best offenses as early as 2026,” Kay wrote.
2026 is destined to treat Raiders fans much better than this season has. With great players to build around, such as Bowers, Miller, Jeanty, Crosby, and whoever they select with their first overall pick (likely Indiana University’s QB Fernando Mendoza), the Raiders have a pretty promising path forward carved out for them.
With the building blocks for a great team in place, a No. 1 pick on the horizon, and tons of cap space to work with, it’s no surprise that Las Vegas would be such an attractive destination for a head coach. It’s now up to the Raiders if they want to open themselves on the market or stick with the Super Bowl-winning Carroll for at least one more season.