Raiders keeping receipts regarding low preseason expectations

As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Las Vegas Raiders at +245 betting odds to win over 8.5 games this coming season.

Paul Gutierrez of ESPN noted that individuals within the Raiders are aware of such forecasts and are keeping receipts.

"They got a chip on their shoulder," first-year full-time Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce recently said about his players. "They're p— off, and that's good. And as long as we [channel] that energy into something positive on game day, we'll be fine."

Pierce provided a needed spark for the Raiders last season while going 5-4 as the club's interim coach. With that said, Las Vegas' uninspiring quarterback competition between 2023 fourth-round draft pick Aidan O'Connell and journeyman Gardner Minshew has many believing the club will enter its Week 10 bye with a losing record.

"I'm angry, not just about that ranking, about a lot of rankings that go on," Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane said about Pierce being listed 28th in at least one set of NFL coach power rankings. "And, of course, it adds to the fuel to the fire. So you see it -- you don't want to see it, you don't really care -- but at the end of the day, you want respect. What I say now gets none of that done. So, we're going to go out there and make it happen."

Individuals within the Raiders are likely aware that star wide receiver Davante Adams continues to be the subject of trade rumors. Adams is routinely linked with the New York Jets, as he played alongside current Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers when both were with the Green Bay Packers from 2014 through the 2021 season.

Adams likely isn't going anywhere anytime soon but could become available ahead of the Nov. 5 trade deadline depending on Vegas' record after Week 9.

"I think it's hard in today's world [to ignore it] because they have access to everything," Pierce said about how players are handling so-called outside noise. "They're going to find out one way or another through social media, somebody texting you, telling you. As you know, our team is very outspoken and when they feel something, they talk about it. But I think [cornerback Jack Jones and Spillane] both said the right thing -- that we got to go out there and change the narrative. And that's what our plan is."

Pierce's Raiders won't have a true chance to respond to such narratives until they open the regular season at the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 8. Gutierrez's article suggests Las Vegas players know the Chargers entered Wednesday as three-point favorites for that matchup.