Raiders' Pete Carroll focused on winning, not NFL trade deadline

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2025-11-04

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Editor’s note: After publication, the Las Vegas Raiders agreed to trade WR Jakobi Meyers to the Jacksonville Jaguars for fourth- and sixth-round draft picks, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported.

Any list of potential sellers ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline likely has the Las Vegas Raiders near the top of the list.

Pete Carroll isn’t buying it.

“It never comes to my mind at all,” Carroll said Monday, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We’re trying to get better, ongoing, right now, and see what we can get done.”

The 74-year-old head coach is thinking more about the short term than the long term, believing that incremental steps forward now can help the Raiders build a solid foundation.

Sitting at 2-6 following Sunday’s narrow overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Raiders have far too many holes to fill at the midway point of the season to expect Carroll and general manager John Spytek to turn the ship around in 2025. That won’t stop the veteran coach from going all in.

“It doesn’t seem like a lot going on right now, but we’re listening,” he said. “Johnny is competing like crazy with his guys to find out any opportunity that’s there.”

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In Carroll’s first offseason in Vegas, he brought in a swath of players that fit his brand of football. Yet, most of those moves didn’t work out, with veterans struggling on both sides of the ball. Generally, teams will lean toward youth in a lost season, moving on from veterans who might block a first- or second-year player from getting snaps.

Sitting five games back in the win column in the AFC West, Carroll didn’t sound inclined to reconsider his expectations.

“The answer is, ‘We always compete.’ We compete at every turn, and there’s a chance coming up for the deadline hitting,” Carroll said. “Maybe there’s something there …

“You’re either competing or you’re not, simple as that.”

It’s one thing to compete. It’s another thing to have the horses to be competitive. The Raiders lack talent in key areas. Sometimes, all the competing in the world can’t overcome that gap.