INDIANAPOLIS — So much of an NFL franchise’s identity is rooted in its head coach and quarterback, and the Raiders find themselves trying to rebrand for the second time in as many years.
Head coach Klint Kubiak takes over for Pete Carroll after a disappointing three-win season, and with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, all expectations are that Las Vegas will turn to Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, fresh off a Heisman Trophy and national championship.
What is general manager John Spytek looking for in a franchise quarterback? Spytek didn’t mention Mendoza by name, but he listed some of the qualities that the Indiana quarterback seems to have.
“A leader, tough as hell, somebody that loves to play football, a maniacal preparer,” said Spytek, now in his second year in Las Vegas after a long run in Tampa that overlapped with now-Raiders minority owner Tom Brady. “Just somebody that loves the game and will give everything to their teammates, a selfless person, every time they’re out there, prepare the right way, lead the right way. I think there’s a great humility and selflessness required to play that position at a high level.”
This week will give the Raiders their first close interaction with Mendoza. They were in attendance at the national championship game in Miami, watching him lead the Hoosiers to victory and finish an unlikely championship season. Spytek hasn’t been allowed to talk to draft prospects until 18-minute interviews this week, and they’ll be able to bring Mendoza in for an official visit to add to that evaluation, but he’s widely seen as the best quarterback in the draft at a position of clear need.
Tuesday’s big question was about All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby, seen as a potential trade piece that could net the Raiders a first-round pick and more. But Spytek was adamant that he expects Crosby to play for Las Vegas this season, saying the two have talked and continue to have a good relationship. Asked about Crosby wanting to play for a contender, Spytek said he has confidence his team can be that in a short amount of time.
“We’re going to build this team the right way, and this league is littered with examples of teams that went from a top-five pick to the NFC Championship, the Super Bowl,” he said. “We’ve seen the last couple of years. The Patriots won four games last year and they were in the big game. The Commanders picked second and were in the NFC Championship Game. We’re going to build it the right way and we’ll see what comes.”
Las Vegas hasn’t won a playoff game in 23 years, since making the Super Bowl after the 2002 season, with only two playoff appearances in that long stretch. The goal is to reset those clocks as soon as possible, or it will soon be the challenge facing another general manager and another coach.
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The Raiders have the second-most available cap space of any NFL team, allowing Spytek and Kubiak to be active in free agency and actively pay to upgrade the talent on the roster. The biggest piece of that will be at quarterback and almost assuredly with Mendoza, but Spytek said his goal is to create a championship locker room for a head coach fresh off a title of his own with Seattle.
“Our job in the personnel department is to give Klint as many good players as we can, that fit his vision and scheme,” Spytek said. “One of the things we really liked about Klint was he’s got a system that highlights what the players can do … Our job is to use that and go forward with that and give him quality people and football players that can bring his offense to life.”
