Things were supposed to be different for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025.
The Raiders signed Geno Smith in a move that was expected to upgrade the offense and the hiring of Pete Carroll was supposed to add stability and improve the culture.
Instead, Smith has been a total zero for Las Vegas and Carroll has been more of a negative than a positive, especially with his reluctance to play young players the Raiders need to evaluate for the future.
Now, there's a world where both Smith and Carroll are one-and-done, and Las Vegas doesn't have a long-term answer at quarterback on the roster.
According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, multiple Raiders have expressed uncertainty surrounding the direction of the franchise.
“I really don’t know what the plan is. I don’t think anyone knows," one unnamed Raider told Russini this week.
One Raiders staffer also admitted they agreed with former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, who said this during the CBS broadcast last week:
“They might need decades to fix this bad boy. I’m just saying,” Pierce said. “One and done, one and done, one and done... Is there another coach gone? Another coordinator?
"Listen, there’s gonna be something I talk about a little later where everybody’s pointing fingers. But at some point, point there and the thumb points back.”
“It’s hard to argue with him," the unnamed Raiders staffer said in response to Pierce's comment.
Russini goes on to add that the feeling around the building and in league circles is that nobody knows what the Raiders are doing right now.
One thing that is clear is the Raiders need to blow this thing up and start from scratch with a full rebuild.
The problem is that Las Vegas' 74-year-old coach isn't likely to be keen on going through that.
If that's the case, it's yet another reason why the Raiders should part ways with Carroll in 2026.
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