Raiders Most Important Trade-Deadline Decision Isn’t About Player Moves

Cutting through the noise to predict a team’s possible decisions at the trade deadline is always a tough task, but the Las Vegas Raiders have been taking this issue to its illogical extreme. No one really knows if the team will keep its players and go full speed ahead or put out the “For Sale” sign, and that’s really the essence of the Raiders' problem as the deadline clock keeps ticking.

Everyone involved in the trade deadline equation needs to be on the same page, and right now they’re clearly not. That’s the big decision the Raiders need to get right, but going into today’s deadline it remains an open question. 

There are four key figures in this decision, so let’s pump some hypothetical truth serum into each one and see how they’d address this decision if were able to get their final calls.  

Coach Pete Carroll. This is the easiest call to make, with no truth serum necessary. Carroll was brought in to establish a winning culture, and he’s coaching on a three-year deal at the age of 74. He doesn’t have time to step back and retool the roster, and he’s made that clear in his public comments. He’s also feuded with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly about play calling and played the injury card at various times, so he’s got at least two-thirds of the “deflect, deny, attack” strategy down pat. 

GM John Spytek. The GM hasn’t made any public comments, pro or con, and so far he’s allowed Carroll to twist in the wind. Given the results on the field and the fact that he’s new, he’d likely be inclined to start the sale process and keep building through the draft if we employed a healthy enough dose of truth serum. That’s especially true given that his quarterback, Geno Smith, is 32 and among the league leaders in interceptions. 

Minority Owner Tom Brady. Brady’s a bit of a mystery at this point. He was all-in on the “full speed ahead” strategy early on, to the point where he even showed up in the coordinator’s booth with a headset on. But Brady has gone into the announcer’s version of witness protection since things have started to go south, so we have no idea where he stands at this point. With enough truth serum, though, we could probably get him to admit that it’s time to punt on Carroll and let Spytek, who happens to be a good buddy, start to make his moves. 

Owner Mark Davis. The owner wants results. That’s been his only public comment lately, but before that he said he had “faith” in both Carroll and Spytek. Thats's the ultimate version of a mixed message, and Davis has been known to make rash, impulsive decisions before. He’s now facing two months of a half-empty stadium occupied mostly by road fans, so we suspect it wouldn’t take all that much truth serum to get him to reveal that his heart's desire is give Carroll the boot so he can keep the turnstiles moving for at least a few more games. 

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