John Spytek’s Offseason is Looking Awful for Raiders

John Spytek has been in charge of the Raiders over two offseasons. After the 2025 disaster, the Raiders’ general manager had a fresh chance to start building up the roster. But his additions are struggling. 

Free Agency

Spytek took a massive swing by signing Tyler Linderbaum. He made Linderbaum the highest-paid center in the NFL, blowing the previous high contract out of the water. But Linderbaum hasn’t been any good. 

His time as a Raider won’t only be judged on his first seven games. But Spytek overpaid because he thought he was securing a dominant piece of his offensive line for years to come. That hasn’t happened. 

Also along the offensive line, Spytek made a bargain signing and added Spencer Burford to be the starting left guard. He too has been a disappointment, though without the sticker shock of Linderbaum’s contract. 

At wide receiver, Spytek gave Jalen Nailor a three-year, $35 million contract. Nailor hasn’t even hit 100 receiving yards on the season. Almost everything Spytek did to help the offense in free agency has been awful. 

However, Kirk Cousins leads the NFL in touchdown passes. He has fit what the Raiders wanted, a stop-gap quarterback. He is not one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but he has been more than competent under center. 

On defense, Spytek’s signings might be even worse. 

Taron Johnson was brought in to be the slot corner for this team. After a dreadful game against the Bills, Johnson is the 56th best cornerback by Pro Football Focus grades. 

Kwity Paye was added to be a complementary edge rusher with Maxx Crosby. He looked good in Week 1 with two sacks, but has since been a complete non-factor. Paye has just one sack in the last six games. 

The linebacking group hasn’t been as much of a disaster. Nakobe Dean has been one of the best players on the defense, but most of his production came in the first three games of the season against bad teams. Quay Walker has struggled in coverage and hasn’t helped the Raiders’ porous run defense enough. 

On both sides of the ball, Spytek has whiffed more often than he has hit. 

The Draft

The Raiders had the first pick in the NFL Draft and six total picks in the top 125 selections. So far the rookie class has been awful. 

Second-round pick Treydan Stukes is the only starter among the rookies, but the secondary is getting torched weekly. That is partially due to Hezekiah Masses, who has rotated with Darien Porter at cornerback, struggling. 

Third-round pick Trey Zuhn may get a chance to start this week, but so far hasn’t been able to earn playing time along one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.

Jermod McCoy, Mike Washington, Dalton Johnson and Malik Benson have gotten little to no playing time to show they can make a difference.

Judging the rookie class may be a bit unfair to Spytek. Top pick Fernando Mendoza has yet to start, as the Raiders want to bring him along slowly. Third-round pick Keyron Crawford suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason. Las Vegas has gotten virtually no production from 2 of their top 3 drafted players through no fault of Spytek. 

Ultimately the 2026 draft class will be a success if Mendoza is a success. The Raiders are hoping they landed a superstar at quarterback, if he lives up to that billing, the rest of the picks are not nearly as important. 

If the Raiders’ rebuild is going to work, Spytek is going to have to prove he can do more than just take the highest-rated quarterback with the number one pick of the draft. Through two seasons as a general manager, he has yet to give us any evidence he can actually turn the Raiders around.