\n Posted on: January 3, 2026, 02:31h.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n Last updated on: January 3, 2026, 02:33h.\n <\/p>\n
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- Raiders look to finish last and lock down the No. 1 draft pick<\/b><\/li>\n
- RB Jeanty finishing season strong<\/b><\/li>\n
- Rumours\u00a0swirling about head coach Carroll\u2019s future, more Brady involvement in team decisions<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What\u2019s next for the 2-14 Las Vegas Raiders, as another NFL regular season ends? Stories about a trade of Pro Bowl DE Maxx Crosby<\/a>. League-wide chatter<\/a> about head coach Pete Carroll being fired at the end of this season. Reports about minority owner (and Fox NFL broadcaster) Tom Brady about to take an even more active role<\/a> in Raiders\u2019 off-field decisions.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ashton-Jeanty-Las-Vegas-Raiders-NFL-858x572.jpg\")
Ashton Jeanty of the Las Vegas Raiders rushes for yards during the second quarter of the game against Andru Phillips of the New York Giants at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in December. (Image: Steve Marcus\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n For Raiders fans, and bettors, the focus today is more on finishing last in the NFL, locking up the No. 1 selection in this spring\u2019s draft, and the next steps in what\u2019s clearly going to need to be a rebuild. That rebuild will start at the quarterback position. So that starts with Indiana Hoosiers\u2019 QB Fernando Mendoza (Heisman Trophy winner and AP College Football Player of the Year), who DraftKings<\/a> has as -450 to go No. 1 (then QB Dante Moore, +450 at No. 2).<\/p>\n
Mendoza just led his team to a dominant Rose Bowl win. A question is whether the Raiders move on from QB Geno Smith, who leads the NFL in interceptions (17), and will sit out tomorrow\u2019s Chiefs\u2019 game with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n
Chatter About Trading Crosby<\/h2>\n
This morning\u2019s ESPN Index<\/a> has the Raiders at 88.5% to choose No. 1, the New York Giants at 11.5%. If the Raiders beat the Chiefs tomorrow and the Giants lose to the Cowboys then New York gets the pick. The Cowboys are -190 moneyline favourites at FanDuel<\/a>, the Giants are at +160. \u00a0The Chiefs are -255 ML favourites at FanDuel, the Raiders +210.<\/p>\n
Now, online chatter is just that. As Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson told reporters a few days ago, after he was asked about media chatter that he wanted out of Baltimore: \u201cThere\u2019s always noise in the National Football League.\u201d This morning\u2019s chatter is about Crosby, the star edge rusher, who is looking at knee surgery (and reportedly<\/a> was not happy about the organization\u2019s decision to pull him from last weekend\u2019s pivotal game against the Giants, pivotal from the perspective of needing to lose that game, to stand a better chance of grabbing that No. 1 pick?). Stories are that he is\u00a0likely a trade candidate<\/a> out of Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
Positioning for Mendoza<\/h2>\n
This from Carroll yesterday, when asked about coaching:<\/p>\n
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I love coaching. I really love being on the field. I love the strategy part of it, all the planning and all that. There\u2019s been a lot of games, a lot of preparations. That still draws me in, the curiosity of how you can make the next right call or the right move with personnel, or the right decision. Those are still really intriguing to me. And, I\u2019m basically pretty curious. I keep looking for something better in all ways we\u2019re doing things, and that really generates the feeling of why I love this game.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
If the Raiders fire Carroll, and Brady indeed takes on a more direct role in team decisions, the Raiders at least know they have a building block in running back Ashton Jeanty. The rookie from Boise State was mentioned in the same sentence as Saquon Barkley when the Raiders chose him in the draft last year, and while he hasn\u2019t dominated, he still has 1,227 total receiving and rushing yards, and 10 total touchdowns, this season.<\/p>\n
More Brady Involvement<\/h2>\n
- RB Jeanty finishing season strong<\/b><\/li>\n