Trying to make sense of the Las Vegas Raiders offseason

The Silver and Black disappointed in a big way in 2022. The Las Vegas Raiders appear to be in a transitional phase once again.

The 2023 NFL season will mark 40 years since this franchise hoisted a Lombardi Trophy. That season, the then-Los Angeles Raiders rolled the then-defending NFL champion Washington Redskins, 38-9, in Super Bowl XVIII at Tampa.

There hasn’t been a lot to cheer about since.

Fast forward to 2002 and the team (now back in Oakland) defeated the Tennessee Titans in the AF Championship Game on its way to Super Bowl XXXVII. As it turned out, Bill Callahan’s club was eventually smoked by Jon Gruden’s well-prepared Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 48-21, in San Diego.

The sad numbers

Dating back to 2003, the Raiders are a combined 90 games under 500 via a 116-206 mark. That does not include two playoff losses over 20 seasons, these to the Texans in 2016 and the Bengals in 2021. In Josh McDaniels’ debut as the team’s head coach this past season, Las Vegas dipped to a 6-11 mark.

So what has transpired so far in 2023? The drama actually started late this past season when quarterback Derek Carr was benched for the final two games. Back in January, general manager Dave Ziegler explained the decision (via Carter Landis of SI.com).

"“It was a difficult decision, and there is emotion involved in that, but you also have to make tough decisions in this business, so an opportunity for us with two games to go, with where our record was at at the time, and to get an opportunity to get a look at two young quarterbacks in Jarrett (Stidham) and in Chase (Garbers).”"

After nine seasons with the club, Carr was released by the organization this offseason. He quickly found a home in the Crescent City with one-time Raiders’ head coach Dennis Allen. Carr’s replacement is former Patriots’ and 49ers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. He was part of the same draft with Carr in 2014, both players being second-round picks (Carr at No. 36 and Garoppolo at No. 62). While the latter has enjoyed some postseason success, he has struggled to stay on the field.

It’s worth noting that Garoppolo and Garbers are the only quarterbacks currently on the Las Vegas roster. Stidham signed with the Denver Broncos earlier this month. There’s also the saga of running back Josh Jacobs, who led the NFL in rushing yards in 2022 but is now under the “franchise tag” because the team did not pick up his fifth-year option for any of their three first-round picks in 2019. Will the team have to ante up in a big way before summer?

Plenty of changes once again for the Las Vegas Raiders

Meanwhile, Carr is not the only notable departure. Tight end Darren Waller was traded to the New York Giants. Wide receiver Mack Hollins, who finished second on the team in catches behind Davante Adams, inked a deal with the Atlanta Falcons.

Per usual, there is a slew of newcomers on both sides of the ball, including a pair of wideouts that McDaniels is familiar with in Jakobi Meyers and Phillip Dorsett. There’s a bunch of new faces on defense again and that’s a unit that has struggled for more than a decade.

It’s almost mystifying that the Raiders have gone two decades without a postseason win. Of course, when you go through a dozen head coaches since 2003, what can be expected? McDaniels enters his second season on the job with plenty to prove this year. Of course, the franchise does as well.