It’s been a chaotic and turmoil-filled last few seasons for the Las Vegas Raiders, as the team has gone through a quarterback carousel and has seen incompetence at every level. But a solid end to last season led by head coach Antonio Pierce has sparked optimism in Raider Nation. 

Las Vegas also hired a new general manager this offseason, as Tom Telesco took over for Dave Ziegler and made some key offseason additions in free agency and the draft, including defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, quarterback Gardner Minshew, and rookie tight end Brock Bowers.

Despite taking some steps in the right direction over the past year, NFL agents still don’t view the Raiders organization highly. The Athletic’s Ben Standig recently put out an article sharing the opinions of unnamed agents on the best and worst franchises in the league and the Raiders did not come out of it well.

Las Vegas did not get one single vote for the best-run franchise, while garnering the second-most votes (seven) for the worst-run franchise. Only the Carolina Panthers (nine) received more votes.

“The owner (Mark Davis) frequently makes significant changes,” one agent said. “He put Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler in charge and fired them after less than two seasons. Now, the Raiders have an inexperienced coach in Antonio Pierce and a retread GM hire in Tom Telesco. Organizations start at the top, and Davis doesn’t provide stability.”

“Traditional choices in this category, like Washington and Arizona, have improved or appear headed in a good direction,” another agent wrote. “Vegas keeps making changes and now finds itself without an apparent quarterback of the future or legitimate starter when it needed one following last season.”

There are some valid points made by the anonymous agents, but also some that are questionable.

The Raiders have completely botched the quarterback situation since the departure of Derek Carr, and there is still uncertainty surrounding the position heading into the 2024 campaign.

Minshew is clearly not the long-term answer, and Aidan O’Connell has shown flashes, but the jury is still out on the former Purdue standout. And, instead of going with O’Connell, who at least offers a chance at upside, the Raiders named Minshew the starter.

The firings of Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler were justified, as the duo failed to produce a winning product and clearly weren’t the answers. McDaniels looked out of sorts during the first half of the 2023 season and had clearly lost the locker room before he was fired after an embarrassing loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 8.

Ziegler did some good things as general manager, including the Davante Adams trade and some success in the later rounds of the draft. However, spending a top-ten pick on Tyree Wilson and failing to solve the quarterback situation led to his demise.

Since Owner Mark Davis took over, he’s hired five different head coaches and four different general managers, so the agents’ concerns about instability are certainly warranted.

2024 is a pivotal year for the Raiders organization. Pierce must establish himself as the coach of the future to bring some stability to the franchise, and Telesco has to keep moving this team in the right direction so he can stick around for the long haul, also.