The Las Vegas Raiders have made a lot of moves this offseason and in free agency. Those moves that the Raiders made now change what the Raiders might do in the 2025 NFL Draft and with the sixth overall pick that they currently own.
Head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek got right to work and got the most important need for the Raiders this offseason: a quarterback. The new regime knew that they could not go into the draft with still need a quarterback because it is not a guarantee that they can select the quarterback they want.
Now that Carroll and Spytek have done that, they have many options for what they can do in next month's draft. The Raiders still have some holes to fill on both sides of the ball, but they cannot go wrong with what side they decide to draft if they stay put with the sixth pick.
Our Hondo Carpenter and attorney Jonathan Schopp discussed some of the possibilities the Raiders have with their first-round pick on a recent episode of the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast."
"They had quarterback, running back issues. They go get Raheem Mostert who is a good role player, Geno Smith, but what they have done is they are still a team with a lot of need but nothing glaring," said Carpenter. "So everyone in the NFL is still there and looking at them at six, and nobody really knows what they are going to do. That is exactly where you want to be because you are high enough that people want to move up to get the guy you want, and with nobody really knowing what you are going to do, they really have essentially set themselves up for a big trade down for a lot of view."
"It does mean they will get it but they have set themselves up for it."
"Historically teams and organizations that have been looking to do a major reboot like to have options," said Schopp. "A lot of times they like to stack draft picks. We seen the Patriots do that more successful than really anyone in the NFL history."
"The Raiders it in a spot I think it is fair to say nobody is going to do something wacky in front of them that drops a guy like Brock Bowers to them like last year. What options are they going to have? Are they going to have a spot at a quarterback they want to take? ... Or are they going to be able to almost some reverse engineering and see which teams might need something they can get here at six, that they cannot get at eight or nine, at 12, and what can we maybe get out of them? So this is a real strategic opportunity."
