Raiders owner Mark Davis seemingly didn’t lose any sleep after Las Vegas squandered the No. 1 pick Sunday.
Davis stopped by the victorious locker room following the 19-14 home win over the Jaguars and was seen clapping and chatting with players, and reportedly in a “good mood,” The Athletic reported.
Las Vegas dropped from the No. 1 pick to the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft with the win.
“Doesn’t seem to care about the draft order ramifications of the win over JAX,” The Athletic reported of Davis’ demeanor.
The Raiders entered the day in a tie with the Giants for the NFL’s worst record but they held the tiebreaker due to the easier schedule.
The Giants showed they will go down without a fight in their 34-7 blowout loss to the Falcons in the 1 p.m. window, meaning the Raiders had to lose to the lowly Jaguars to maintain their spot.
On this day, the Jaguars proved to be worse. Ameer Abdullah scored the game-winning touchdown for the Raiders with 11:26 left to push Las Vegas to 3-12.
Now, instead of having their pick of whoever they want in the draft, the Raiders are behind the Giants (2-13), Patriots (3-12), Jaguars (3-12), Titans (3-12) and Browns (3-12).
Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, like Davis, did not seem to care.
“Talk to (general manager) Tom Telesco,” Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce said when asked about the fans’ worries about how the win affected the draft.
Time will tell if this loss haunts the Raiders for years to come, but NFL history is littered with teams winning meaningless games at the end of seasons that alter their franchise for many years to come.
The Giants won some meaningless games at the end of last season with Tommy DeVito at the helm, which ultimately pushed them out of range to draft quarterbacks Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye.
Not landing either player in last year’s draft could force the Giants to take a quarterback — perhaps Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward — at No. 1 this year in what is seen as a down year for signal callers.
The Raiders have another winnable game on tap in Week 17 in New Orleans before finishing the season at home against a Chargers team that may not have anything to play for.