On Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders drastically hurt their chances of receiving the top overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. But in the eyes of Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, winning still remains the only goal for the Raiders organization for the remainder of the season.
It’s no secret that the Raiders will likely find themselves in the market for a new quarterback this coming offseason. Neither Gardner Minshew nor Aidan O’Connell have shown much promise as the quarterback of the future for the Raiders.
Add in the fact that Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who many see as the top quarterback prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft class, has seemingly been hinting at interest in playing for the Raiders recently, and you have many Raiders fans who wouldn’t have minded the Raiders losing out for the remainder of the season to potentially land Sanders.
Antonio Pierce and the Raiders had other plans in Week 16, coming away with a 19-14 victory over the Jaguars to secure their third win of the season.
Coming into the week, the Raiders and New York Giants were neck-and-neck for the worst record in football. But after the Raiders win, they are now projected to end up with the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, which may be out of the range to select someone like Shedeur Sanders.
On Monday, Pierce was asked if he had a message for Raiders fans who were upset about the organization winning a largely meaningless game between two teams near the top of the 2025 NFL Draft board.
He answered “no comment” briefly before elaborating on why he only values winning. Even if it may harm the organization in the long run by missing out on certain players in the draft.
“Look, we work 80 hours a week (as a staff). Players coming in here, they are 40-plus hours to work. We don’t do this to lose. We don’t do this for anyone’s fantasy football team. We don’t do this for anybody’s draft projections. None of that s*** matters to us. The only thing that matters is winning. That’s all we want to do.”
Antonio Pierce has no regrets about winning
“Fantasy football […] draft projections […], none of that sh*t matters to us. The only thing that matters is winning, and that’s all we want to do.” 🗣️
🎥: @Raiders https://t.co/7Kpnl5q2dG pic.twitter.com/a3fSL1FOt9
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) December 23, 2024
It’s understandable that Pierce feels this way. The former Pro Bowl linebacker may very well be coaching for his job down the stretch of this season. Especially since Tom Brady is expected to have a “huge voice” in who will be the head coach of the future for the organization since coming on as a part-owner officially at the start of this season.
While having a top draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft could be important, having a winning culture in place is equally as vital for any organization. Pierce hasn’t quite turned the Raiders into a winner. But as you can tell from his response to this question, it’s not for a lack of passion on his end.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.