Pete Carroll details Raiders' offseason moves, outlook for the season at Annual League Meeting

Mar 31, 2025 at 03:43 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Pete Carroll isn't concerned about the past when holistically looking at the team he inherited.

That's been something he's made clear since taking over as the Raiders head coach in January, and he took another opportunity to voice that sentiment at the NFL's Annual League Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. This isn't his first rodeo at the event by any means as he enters his 19th season as an NFL head coach. Nevertheless, it's his first time in attendance with the Silver and Black, an organization whose history he's familiar with as a Bay Area native.

He recognizes the foundation set by late owner Al Davis, a man he has great respect for considering the three Super Bowl titles the Raiders have won. However, those days are but a memory for a team that's gone 18-33 in the last three seasons. As for putting together an improved product on the field, Carroll is aware that it will be a process.

"They've had a hard time for a number of years, and it hasn't been smooth in any way," Carroll said Monday morning. "But I grew up knowing the franchise and knowing Al Davis and what he was all about. ... There's a legacy, there's a brand that is worldwide, and there's something special about that. It was a great following.

"The Raider Nation is the real deal. I look at it now that I've been around enough. I did not spend a lot of time on the past, but I needed to understand and I needed to know the people that I'm going to be working with. ... That was the focus for me, is to focus on figuring out how John [Spytek] and I can get together and do our stuff and be really effective because I believe that's the most important relationship in NFL franchises. And so, I wanted to maximize that."

Carroll and Spytek began the offseason by investing in current members of the roster, notably signing Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby to a multi-year contract extension.

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The next big domino to fall was trading a third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for quarterback Geno Smith. The tale of Carroll and Smith is one driven by perseverance and faith, as the former Seahawks quarterback was named the starter in 2022 after spending six seasons as a backup for four different teams.

Smith hasn't looked back, throwing 71 touchdowns, 12,226 yards and completing over 68 percent of his throws over the last three seasons. He accomplished all of that while also totaling 27 wins in that span.

"We have really a rich background, and it was really important to me because I know what we can count on," Carroll said of acquiring Smith. "We have a guy that is such a great worker. He's grown so much through his career, been through so much and overcome so much. I love the way he approaches the game. He's serious, he's competitive, works his tail off, and he's a great leader in that regard, leads the guys by the way he takes to the game. And man, he's talented, really talented."

"I've talked to him all throughout this year at times," Carroll added of his year away from football. "You'd be surprised how much we were just communicating, stayed in touch. And really, it's about me supporting him and hoping for the best. And so, when it came around time where we can finally get to it, it was an automatic that we would take a shot at it. And fortunately, Seattle was willing to listen, and John Spytek did his first big-time deal, and we pulled it off exactly in the manner that we wanted to. It gave us a great kick start to what's going on."

The Raiders head coach is pleased with the other acquisitions made this offseason. When speaking on the moves the team has made, he referenced the re-signings of Isaiah Pola-Mao and Adam Butler, along with what new Raiders Elandon Roberts, Jeremy Chinn, Devin White and Eric Stokes can provide to the roster.

"I think we got better. In managing the process, we had to spread that money around, make all those cool decisions that you've got to make, and I thought John was right on it," Carroll said. "I'm thrilled about the guys we picked up."

Once the league meetings wrap up, all attention will be on the 2025 NFL Draft, which starts on April 24. Carroll aims to put together a well-rounded draft class with Spytek that complements their collective offseason moves.

"There's a lot of excitement about the draft for the club because there's tremendous players in an array of spots," Carroll said. "They're not all as strong as the others, but those guys throughout that really get us cranked up. And we're going to have our wish list. We're going to be hoping some guys are going to be there when we choose. We have a tremendous position in the drafting in the sixth spot throughout the rounds. We'll be active. We're going to be very creative. We're not settling with anything. Every single opportunity we have, we're going to investigate, be prepared to do that, try to take full advantage of it for us.

"I love John's approach and the guys he's got around him. ... Our coaches will be involved. You're either competing or not, so we are going to take advantage of every opportunity, using all of the elements that we have."

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Athletic trainers and coaches during a Pro Football Cares Sports Emergency Response Training at Intermountain Health Performance Center.