What we learned listening to 2 podcast interviews with John Spytek

New Raiders general manager John Spytek doesn’t think a team has to hit rock bottom or sacrifice wins to build a contending roster.

And the 44-year-old has a blueprint to follow as he begins an ambitious rebuilding project with his new club.

The situation with the Raiders is somewhat different from that of the Buccaneers, but Spytek offered insight into his football philosophy during an interview with The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue for her podcast “The Playcallers.”

Spytek discussed how he kept the Buccaneers afloat as assistant general manager after quarterback Tom Brady retired following the 2022 season. Tampa Bay, which went all-in to win Super Bowl 55 with Brady in 2021, had $80 million in salary-cap charges for players no longer on its roster in 2023. Most pundits expected the Buccaneers to take a significant step back.

That’s just not Spytek’s style, however.

“Sunday comes very fast every week, and we better have a good team out there every Sunday, because otherwise we’re going to get embarrassed, and nobody likes that. You owe the coaches a chance to be successful every Sunday,” Spytek said on the podcast, taped in October. “You can’t just say, ‘Well, we’re going to punt to (the future).’ That’s not what I’m about, and you shouldn’t be about that. But you do have to have that eye to the future, too.”

Right formula

Spytek said Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht emphasized the team wouldn’t have much money to spend in free agency in 2023. Thus, it was imperative to land players in the draft that could contribute immediately.

Tampa Bay also identified quarterback Baker Mayfield as an affordable replacement for Brady on the open market.

The plan worked. The Buccaneers won the NFC South with a 9-8 record and Mayfield made the Pro Bowl. The team went 10-7 this season and won its division again.

“A lot of people thought we were just going to tank and try to rebuild, but that was never our intention,” Spytek said. “We’ve kind of found our way through all the money we took on the chin and still found a way to be competitive, and that’s really what you should do. I don’t think you should put your organization in a place where you should expect a 4-13 year. It can be tough, but if you’re doing the draft the right way and signing the right guys, you can stay competitive and then you can win more games than you lose on the margins every week with the coaches.”

Build through the draft

Spytek has plenty of work to do to make the Raiders an instant contender, but he does have a lot of cap space.

The team is projected to have $92.5 million in spending power, according to the website Over the Cap. Only the Patriots ($120 million) have more.

Still, Spytek’s overriding philosophy isn’t likely to change. It’s one he spelled out during a podcast appearance last offseason on “Loose Cannons,” hosted by several Buccaneers fans.

“The most important part of the team-building process is the draft,” Spytek said. “You get one chance to do it, and if you miss it, you pay the piper for years. Then you try to supplement with free agents because you missed, and it costs a lot, and you don’t know what you’re getting if you’re buying from the outside all the time and then it can get away from you quick. We’ve done the opposite (in Tampa) the last five or six years, and it’s why we are where we are.”

Spytek pointed out that while the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl with Brady, his college teammate at Michigan, the core of that team came through the draft. Most of the roster was in place before Brady signed with the team as a free agent in 2020.

‘Love affair’ with football

Spytek comes from a scouting background, and that’s the lens through which he sees the game. During both interviews, he went into detail about his passion for scouting and broke down the differences in how coaches and scouts see the game.

He also displayed a good sense of humor, joking that his first foray into scouting was analyzing himself as a linebacker at Michigan. He said he quickly realized his path to the NFL would not be as a player.

But he knew he wanted to work in the game.

“I’d say I have a high passion for football, maybe a love affair,” Spytek said. “My wife would tell you it’s almost an obsession sometimes. I can’t turn my brain off from it. For as long as I can remember, football has been what I’ve loved to do, to watch or to play. I just love it, and I can’t get enough of it, and my joy for the game is as strong as it’s ever been.”

Collaborate with coworkers

That journey has led Spytek, a Pewaukee, Wisconsin, native, to his first general manager position.

He offered insight into how he plans to construct the front office when he discussed how a good leader should embrace dissenting opinions.

“I think you want that, and you should ask for that,” Spytek said. “When I’ve been a director with people reporting to me, I’ve always demanded and challenged them to tell me what they think.”

Spytek said he thinks better decisions can be reached that way, but it comes with a degree of responsibility.

“I want your real opinion,” he said. “Now, you better have worked hard and put in the time and effort and thought to do it the right way, but once you do that, put it on the line. Say what you think. We’re not here to judge you. I may have a different opinion, but it doesn’t mean I’m right. We’ll find out in two or three years.

“I think as a manager you can’t be afraid to hold people accountable, and the right kind of people expect that. And all we care about is getting it right.”

The Raiders hope they made the correct decision by putting Spytek in charge of their rebuild.

They’ll find out in two or three years.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.