This offseason is another extremely important one for the Las Vegas Raiders. The team has again started over with a new regime as Pete Carroll and John Spytek have taken over as head coach and general manager, respectively, but one thing that hasn’t changed is owner Mark Davis at the top.
Davis continues to talk about his desire to bring the Raiders back into contention and among the NFL’s elite franchises as they used to be, and he maintains optimism that they will ultimately get there.
That was certainly the case at the NFL’s recent owner meetings where Davis proclaimed that this is his favorite time of the year as the Raiders are technically undefeated, via Vic Tafur of The Athletic:
“I say it every year, this is my favorite time — we are undefeated,” he said Monday.
Davis surely hopes this year will be different from the prior couple of seasons when the Raiders failed to reach their expectations. In fact, for the third consecutive season, the Raiders will come into the year with a new head coach and general manager after Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler were fired. Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco lasted just one year before being let go this offseason.
To his credit, Davis took the onus on himself, simply saying he failed to hire the right people:
“I just didn’t get it right,” he said. “That’s all there is to it.”
Now, with Carroll and Spytek in place, not to mention Tom Brady as a minority owner, Davis finally feels he has the pieces to turn this franchise around. And while he will give them the power to do what they think is best, he will be around to question things and make sure all is right:
“For me, it’s giving them the ability to do what they want to do,” Davis said. “I’ll grill them and everything, play devil’s advocate the whole time, and just make sure.”
It feels like an annual tradition for the Raiders to say things will be different now, but Davis believes things are set to move up for this team.
Raiders sign linebacker Devin White
As far as the roster goes, the Raiders have taken some losses in free agency but have also brought in some very intriguing pieces, the latest of which is linebacker Devin White.
The team announced they had agreed to a deal with White, who is coming off a down season with the Houston Texans. Prior to that, he was one of the most important pieces on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that carried them to a Super Bowl win in 2021. Still just 27 years old, White has a lot left in the tank and will look to get his career back on track with the Raiders.
