Yardbarker
x

The Las Vegas Raiders recently cut their roster down to 53 players and are only about a week away from the start of the regular season. Pete Carroll is ready to spark the Raiders' turnaround after several disappointing seasons.

Carroll spoke following training camp.

You can watch the entire interview below:

Following cutdown day, Raiders General Manager John Spytek spoke to the media. We have a partial transcript below.

Spytek Speaks

Q: Going back a couple days, the trade for Kenny Pickett -- how did that come about, and what was it about Kenny Pickett that made you guys focus on him? 

General Manager John Spytek : "Well, obviously, quarterbacks are an important commodity, and Kenny [Pickett] is somebody that we've had a lot of respect for for a long time. I was in Tampa in 2022 when he was a rookie and beat us, beat Tom Brady. He fit the profile of what we're looking for. He does a lot of similar things that Geno [Smith] does with his athleticism and ability to move the pocket and all that. And you look around the league and you think, 'Who could be available, who could we get?' And the team with four quarterbacks certainly looks like a spot where you could get it.

And so we felt like, organizationally, it made a lot of sense. We still are excited about working through Aidan's [O'Connell] injury and getting him back at some point, but we had to have some answers. And it would be a lot to ask a rookie from North Dakota State to be the number two guy going into New England in Week 1. So felt like it was a great move for us." 

Q: You guys could've put Aidan O'Connell on IR but kept him on the active roster. I know Pete Carroll said he thought he's going to be out six to eight weeks. Did you guys have a more optimistic timetable of his return? 

Spytek: "He's now on IR. We placed him on IR today. So it's just really kind of the way that the league allows you to do different ways to put guys to IR. You get eight total guys for the entire season to bring back from Designated to Return. If you do two of them, like we did Lonnie [Johnson Jr.] before, now you're down to six.

And so we thought that this will just give us a little bit more flexibility. Sometimes it's challenging because you have to carry them through the cut and then cut somebody like a veteran usually to do it. With the way our roster was kind of made up, it actually kind of fell together so it wasn't as challenging to do as some of the places I've been in past. So Aidan's [O'Connell] on IR now, and he's already had his surgery, and he's already working hard to get back, and when he's ready, he'll have a chance to play football again."

Find us on X (formerly Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and @EZTrez_SI and weigh in on this take.

While here, check out our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE to discuss this take.


This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!