The Las Vegas Raiders have a chance to look very different next season. Not only is there going to be a new head coach in charge, but with over $100 million in salary cap space and the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in hand, the team can remake the entire roster.
The Raiders have many players who are on expiring deals or are on the roster bubble, but only a small handful of them will return. One player who is hoping to come back is defensive tackle Jonah Laulu.
He started 15 games in 2025 and was tied for third on the team with 4.0 sacks. The 25-year-old Las Vegas native doesn’t care that things are going to look different next year. He wants to be part of the eventual turnaround.
“When I went to Hawaii, that’s kind of how it was,” Laulu said, per Nick Walters. “Before I got there, they didn’t really have that many wins. When I got there, we got the culture turned around, went to a bowl game every single year I was there. … I would love for that to be what happens here. That means we stuck through it from the bottom, all the way to the top. That’s something you make in a movie.”
Laulu Is Still Under Contract
The good news for Laulu is that he’s not a free agent. He is still under contract with the Raiders through the 2027 season.
Now, that doesn’t mean he’s safe. He has no guaranteed money left on his contract, so he can be cut without the Raiders facing any penalty. That said, he showed enough this season to earn a chance in 2026.
He proved to be a solid interior pass rusher, and the Raiders have no depth at defensive tackle. The only reason they’d move on from him is that they found upgrades at the position.
John Spytek Talks Relationship With Tom Brady
General manager John Spytek was able to keep his job despite Pete Carroll getting fired. He’s not effectively running the show for the Raiders, along with minority owner Tom Brady.
After Carroll was fired, Spytek held a press conference and discussed his relationship with Brady and how they work together.
“We see football similar,” Spytek told reporters on Monday. “We don’t see it the same. We have plenty of discussions and disagreements, and I’m not afraid to tell him that. I think that’s kind of why he likes me. But I do believe that we see things similar, and we’ve both had a lot of success seeing it that way, and I think we know what we’re after, and it’s up to us now to go find it. …
“I’ve been here a year now, I’ve got to know MD [Mark Davis], ownership. I know what the expectations are. I’ve got to know the building, I think, really well, and we’ve got a plan in place, and we’re going to start working on it. The goal is constant, meticulous improvement so that this organization and the Raider Nation can be proud when they walk into Allegiant Stadium.”
Key Raiders Starter Wants to Return to Vegas Despite Coaching Change