Mailbag: Is John Spytek general manager in name only?

The Las Vegas Raiders’ 2025 season is winding down with just six games left to play, including the Week 13 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. That being said, this week’s mailbag is a more evergreen look at the state of the Raiders. Also, it will be a little abbreviated this week with the holiday. On that note, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Q: Is Spytek the GM in name only? Do he and Pete even talk anymore? Will he, can he, tell Pete what he wants done, like playing the younger players, replacing Geno with AOC and replacing his son with Joe Philbin as head O line coach? Who’s in charge?!?

A: I completely understand where this question is coming from, seeing as I’m also part of the crew that has grown frustrated with Pete Carroll not playing the rookies enough. But the recent report/leak about Spytek and Carroll not being on the same page about who should be on the field leads me to believe that Spytek is in control of who the team drafts and adds to the roster. In my opinion, what we’re seeing has more to do with him and Carroll not being on the same page rather than the general manager having no power.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if part of Spytek’s frustration is that he brought in guys like Geno Smith, Stone Forsthye and Tyler Lockett to throw Carroll a bone by giving the head coach a few players he’s familiar with, but Carroll doesn’t seem willing to return the favor by giving the rookies more playing time.

To me, there’s a lot of friction in the building between Tom Brady’s guys, Spytek being one of them, and the coaching staff. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that Brady pushed for Chip Kelly to be the offensive coordinator, and his frustrations with this season “go beyond the offense”. Then, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero goes on The Rich Eisen Show and says Kelly was struggling to get the play calls in and, basically, was horrible at the basic fundamentals of his job.

The fact that all these leaks are coming out over the last few weeks tells me there’s a lot of finger-pointing going on in Las Vegas right now, and it’s a situation where the front office and coaching staff are at odds. That can come with the territory of being 2-9, as both sides are going to try to wipe their hands clean of the mess that is the 2025 Raiders.

So, as I’m sure most of you are expecting, don’t be surprised if more pink slips are coming over the next couple of months. It’s just a matter of who or what side Mark Davis is going to pick.

Q: If I were Mark Davis, I’d kick Geno Smith off the team after he flipped off Mark’s fans. I don’t think Al would have put up with it. I’d at least tell Pete to sit him out for a game.

A: I hear ya, that was completely unprofessional and unacceptable by Geno. Fans have a right to be pissed off with how terrible this season has gone, and even if something was said that crossed the line, he’s the professional in that situation where he needs to be the bigger person. I wouldn’t expect Carroll to bench Smith, but he or Davis should at least fine or punish the quarterback in some fashion.

Q: I wanted your opinion on something that has always bothered me, out of all the mistakes Mark Davis has made, was not keeping Rich Bisaccia the biggest one? I remember the feeling of optimism, even after the Raiders lost that playoff game, that a few tweaks and additions next year and the Raiders would really be back and then it was over.

A: I don’t think it’s the biggest mistake Davis has made, but I’d be willing to bet he wouldn’t make the same decision if he could do it over.

I’m not trying to say that Bisaccia would have been the franchise’s savior, but it’s always bothered me how Mark handled that situation. He told everyone the team needed to make the playoffs for Bisaccia to keep the job, then the Raiders won four games in a row to finish the season and earn a Wild Card spot, but the interim head coach still wasn’t retained. That’s the owner moving the goal posts and not sticking to his word.

I think that played a big factor in Antonio Pierce getting retained as head coach, which ended up being a mistake. Players vouched for Bisaccia, but Davis didn’t listen and hired Josh McDaniels instead, another big mistake. Then, the same situation happened with Pierce, and Davis was kind of backed into a corner where he’d be going against the locker room for a second time in three years by hiring someone else in the offseason.

Here we are four years later, on head coach No. 3 since then and, potentially, No. 4 if Carroll gets canned in the offseason with no postseason appearances to show for it.

TVRaider

Where are we on Tyree Wilson? Realize he has not lived up to his draft status, but he’s now getting more snaps than Koonce.Do you think the Raiders pick up his 5th year option?

A: No, I don’t think they pick up Wilson’s fifth-year option. He is getting more playing time than Malcom Koonce, but Wilson still only played 17 out of 51 snaps last week, and 29 out of 67 against the Cowboys. For context, the fifth-year option for Wilson is currently projected to be $13.6 million, per Over The Cap.

I’d have a hard time believing Spytek takes on an eight-figure cap hit for a player who plays less than 50 percent of the team’s snaps, especially since the 2023 first-round pick was drafted by a previous regime. I think Wilson either plays out the original four-year rookie contract or gets traded in the offseason.

Q: Lamar doesn’t look like himself in the slightest post-injury. Doesn’t run, can’t hit his targets, what is wrong with him? I’m sick of seeing this little baby smacking the ball on the ground every time he gets sacked or scrambles for 1 yard. Make a play and figure it out, bub. 

A: Sir, this is a Raiders blog. LOL!

That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.