The Week 9 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers marks the halfway point of the Las Vegas Raiders’ 2026 season, and the NFL trade deadline is coming up on Tuesday. So, we have a lot to go over for this week’s mailbag. Let’s get to it!
A: It depends on how they feel about re-signing Tre Tucker in the offseason. If John Spytek and Co. don’t want to prioritize Tucker, then it would make sense to get something for him, especially for a Top 100 pick. However, the Raiders are still in the hunt, so I don’t think
they’re going to be looking to move on from starters at the deadline.
As far as re-signing Tucker goes, I don’t think Jalen Nailor’s contract impacts that much. Tucker has already out-produced Nailor, with almost double the amount of yards (2,040 to 1,179) and catches (152 to 81) and has more touchdowns (14 to 12) despite being in the NFL for one fewer season. Nailor is making less than $12 million per year (ranks 40th among WRs, per Over The Cap), and I’d bet Tucker gets something similar to Jakobi Meyer’s contract with the Jaguars ($20 million per year, 27th among WRs).
Also, it’s not ideal, but the Raiders can get out of Nailor’s contract if that becomes an issue in the offseason. Per OTC, they’d save $5.5 million and take on about $9.4 million in dead cap with a post-June 1 cut, and it’s about a 50/50 split with $7.4 million in savings via a pre-June 1 trade, and a little more than $12 million in savings with a post-June 1 trade. Again, not an ideal situation, but there are options available.
Personally, I feel like the need for a ‘WR1’ is kind of diminishing by the week. The offense and passing game are functioning pretty well with Brock Bowers as the top option, while the team is struggling to find answers at guard and defensive tackle. As long as Bowers is around, I wouldn’t mind rolling with a collection of cheaper ‘WR2s’ like Tucker and allocating more resources to the trenches.
However, then the issue becomes: When and how much does Bowers want to get paid? He’s going to be eligible for a contract extension in the offseason and will reset the tight end market whenever he gets his second contract. Plus, the offense’s current ‘WR1’ will probably look to get ‘WR1’ money from the Raiders, which is in the $30-plus million per year range.
Q: Might there be any indication on how the Raiders will handle the trade deadline? Or do they have good poker faces?
A: Coincidentally, my power rankings roundup column had some trade deadline talk in it, where ESPN dove into the best in-season trade the Raiders have ever had (DB Mike Haynes in 1983). I was trying to think of the second-best in-season acquisition the franchise has made at the deadline, and had a hard time coming up with one. The reason I bring this up is that, historically, the Raiders don’t make many moves at the deadline, at least not as a ‘buyer’.
Considering that win or lose, they’ll still be in the playoff hunt after this weekend, I have a hard time seeing Kirk Cousins getting traded. On top of that, the only significant trade rumor coming out of Las Vegas right now is that Maxx Crosby is not on the market. So, maybe a smaller deal like Powers-Johnson getting traded happens, but anything else would be a surprise at this point.
I get the feeling Spytek and Klint Kubiak are content to roll with the roster as is for the rest of the season and then address the needs in the offseason.
A: Again, I don’t think we’ll see any splash trades coming out of Vegas in the next few days. But to answer the question: Maxx Crosby, Kirk Cousins, Tucker (third-fourth fringe), Kolton Miller (third-fourth fringe), and Ashton Jeanty.
Crosby would have to be for a haul, and it sounds like the organization is trying to make it known that he isn’t going anywhere. I touched on this in more detail last week; I’d hold onto Cousins and Miller to help support Fernando Mendoza. And I’ll save y’all some time rather than rehash my Tucker and Jeanty takes. The running back will come up again later.
Q: Under Rob Leonard at defensive coordinator, Eric Stokes doesn’t look as good as he did last year. At what point do they let all 3 young CBs play both CB spots? Did the league catch on to Rob Leonard’s scheme, or why does the defense look so bad compared to the first 3 weeks?
A: The problem is that Darien Porter and Hezekiah Masses are both inconsistent right now, and Jermod McCoy’s tape is pretty ugly on the limited snaps he’s played this season. So, while Stokes has regressed, he’s still probably the most reliable corner on the roster. As long as the Raiders are in the playoff mix, I don’t think the coaching staff pivots to the full-on youth movement. But once they fall out of contention, then we could see Porter, Masses and McCoy get more opportunities.
As for Leonard’s scheme, opposing offenses have definitely been picking on his tendacies in the last several weeks. The first two games had a lot of mystery about what he was going to run, making it difficult for the Dolphins and Chargers to put a typical game plan together. Also, we now know those are two of the worst teams in the league.
Even the Saints started to figure out Leonard, putting up 27 points in three quarters before turning the ball over on every possession in the fourth. New Orleans still racked up 381 yards, and that was our first sign that the book was out on the Raiders’ defense.
The Chiefs were the first team to really highlight this; the Raiders can’t stop the run consistently against 12 and 13 personnel. I dive into that in more detail when talking about the defensive tackles. I think part of it is a talent issue to cut Leonard some slack.
Ultimately, with the way it’s currently constructed from scheme and personnel perspectives, this is a very turnover-reliant defense. That’s hard to sustain because it requires the other team/offense to make mistakes.
Q: Why are the Raiders struggling to find a NT for their 3-4? Do they not have to correct players on the roster? Seems like they had numerous opportunities to grab one in the draft or through a trade. Yet they shuffle through players who don’t seem to fit a true NT but are serviceable. Do they not hold NT an important position? Seems very neglectful by Spytek if your base is 3-4.
A: They didn’t prioritize the position at all in the offseason. The starting nose tackle right now is Foley Fatukasi, who was signed after the first preseason game. As you mentioned, there were plenty of opportunities to address it in the offseason. This draft class had several good nose tackles, but Spytek went in a different direction every time.
I think that came down to two factors. One being that the front office wasn’t going to be able to fill every need in one offseason. Think about how many starting spots were up for grabs or were questionable heading into training camp.
The other factor is that the 3-4 discussion was kind of a fallacy, where Rob Leonard ideally runs a variety of fronts. In the first few games of the season, the Raiders were in more even fronts out of nickel personnel. Then, teams started to realize the defense struggles to stop 12 and 13 personnel. Leonard likes to counter those looks by putting an off-ball linebacker (typically Quay Walker) on the line of scrimmage at edge to get into an odd front.
That’s where not having a good nose tackle really started to show up because teams like the Chiefs, Bills and Rams just stayed in 12 and 13 personnel, forcing the Raiders to play fronts that they aren’t adequately equipped to play.
So, I think it was a combination of negligence from Spytek and the defense not functioning the way Leonard envisioned in the offseason. Granted, you could argue that the former is the cause of the latter. It’s certainly time for Spytek to place a bigger priority on the defensive tackle position as a whole than he has in the past.
Q: What’s your take on Jonah Laulu getting waived & claimed by six teams versus the defensive tackle room, with Dont’e Thornton Jr. getting reactivated in his place and then inactive for the game?
A: I don’t have a problem with Laulu getting waived. He was playing poorly, and defensive tackle was going to be a major offseason need even if he was still on the roster heading into the spring. But seeing six teams put in a claim for Laulu certainly feels like a missed opportunity to at least pick up a seventh-round pick instead of letting him go for nothing.
However, to play devil’s advocate, just because a team is willing to claim a player for free doesn’t necessarily mean they’d be willing to give up anything for him, even if it is a small price tag. Look at Darrell Luter Jr. The Raiders were one of five teams to put a claim in for him after cutdown day.
Maybe the 49ers didn’t try or think they could get anything for Luter, but that’s a highly functional organization that was in a similar situation to the Raiders with Laulu, and both clubs handled it the same way. Meanwhile, Luter has strictly been a special teamer in Las Vegas, and people would probably be pissed if they gave up a draft pick for that.
A: My answer is twofold.
Leonard tried the 5-2-4 looks with Tommy Eichenberg serving as the base package linebacker against the Rams. Vegas was in base personnel 61.8% of that game, per Sumer Sports, which is about 40% higher than the rate for the entire season. But it didn’t matter, as Los Angeles still ran the ball for 200 yards. However, Eichenberg had a very good game last week and was a big reason the defense got stops and was better against the run in the red zone.
So, we have conflicting information on the topic. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Eichenberg gets another shot at having a bigger role this Sunday considering how well he played in New York. It’s not like the Raiders are keeping points off the board in nickel!
Q: Will Fernando Mendoza start this year? Is it coaching and organizational malpractice to not play him?
A: Call me a pessimist, but I have a hard time seeing the Raiders winning more than one of their next four games (at 49ers, vs. Seahawks, at Broncos and at Browns). Granted, I think they can pull off an upset in Cleveland. However, at 5-7 heading into December, it’d be stretching the definition of “in the hunt” to consider Vegas a legitimate playoff contender at that point. So, I think there’s a good chance Mendoza’s first start comes after the bye in Week 14.
I won’t go as far as saying it’d be “malpractice” not to play him this year, but I will say that they need to take the training wheels off at some point and let him get live reps. It might not be pretty, but let him work through the struggles now and have something to build on heading into 2027.
I understand why Klint Kubiak didn’t do it, but I would have made the change ahead of last week’s game. I get wanting to be patient and have been on board with that strategy from the jump. However, now that we’re halfway through the season, making a quarterback change needs to be a bigger discussion within the organization, and sitting Mendoza for the entire campaign wouldn’t be doing him any favors, in my opinion.
The Raiders still have a chance at making the playoffs right now, and Cousins is playing well. So there’s no need to make a change right now. But once the postseason becomes an afterthought, it’s time to turn it over to the rookie.
A: I think so. It’s only been one game, but Trey Zuhn III has already played better than Caleb Rogers did in any of his starts this year, for example. Also, Masses is going back and forth with Porter despite being drafted two rounds later, and Mike Washington Jr. is pushing Ashton Jeanty for the lead running back role despite being drafted three rounds later.
The 2026 draft class may not be perfect, but it’s already surpassing last year’s, and the top pick has barely seen the field!
A: I think Jeanty’s situation last week was a combination of both. The running game hasn’t been working (that’s the earth-shattering analysis you’re here for, right?), and while it wasn’t/isn’t all his fault, Jeanty wasn’t making it better.
Kubiak had to try something else and see what Washington could do as the feature back. However, I think the dramatic 25-2 split was to send a message to Jeanty and was partially punitive for his stupid ‘bulletin board’ comments about the Jets’ defense.
Moving forward, I think it will be closer to a 50-50 workload between the two backs. The rushing attack was better at staying on schedule with Washington last week, but his lack of vision also led to some missed opportunities for big runs, and the Jets were down their best run defender, defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat. In other words, the rookie had a decent performance to increase his workload from what it was earlier in the season, but he didn’t run away with the job.
As for what Jeanty’s future looks like in Las Vegas, that’s a good question that I don’t have a great answer for right now. Sunday could help give us more clarity. But if I’m calling the shots and another team was willing to give me, say, a second-round pick for Jeanty on Tuesday, I’d have a hard time turning that down. I don’t think that will happen; however, depending on how the next couple of months play out, it could be a big topic in the offseason.
Q: Should Jackson Powers-Johnson be playing center instead of guard, or does he not have the skills to play in the Raiders system(s), or do the abilities that made him successful in college not translate to the NFL?
A: I’ve always felt like JPJ’s best position is at center, skill-wise at least. I think the problem is that he wasn’t able to get the mental part of the position down, which led to communication issues in the trenches. In other words, he was executing his assignment but wasn’t getting the rest of the line on the same page, and the latter is half the battle for a center. It’d be like having a quarterback who has a strong arm but can’t read defenses, anticipate throws, etc.
That’s why I think the Raiders tried Powers-Johnson at guard, to let his physical tools flourish and take the thinking off his plate. But, for whatever reason, it hasn’t worked out. Some guys can make that transition naturally; others just never feel comfortable not being at the pivot.
The other problem is once Vegas gave Tyler Linderbaum $81 million in the offseason, that ended any ideas of JPJ playing center moving forward. Linderbaum hasn’t lived up to the contract, but he’s been better than JPJ has and has the superior resume of the two. That’s why I’ve been saying since his benching that Jackson Powers-Johnson’s days in Vegas are likely numbered.
A: I feel like that’s pretty spot on. Based on what we’ve seen so far, I think this year’s Raiders are a frisky, seven- to eight-win club. Not quite a playoff team, but floating around an average ranking. Seeing as I thought they’d only win five games heading into the season, that’s a good starting point for a rebuild.
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
