NFL Draft 2026: How the Raiders can clinch the No. 1 pick in Week 18

Sunday afternoon update: With the Giants defeating the Cowboys in Week 18, the Raiders have officially clinched the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Las Vegas Raiders are limping to the end of a dismal season.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks to last week’s loss to the New York Giants, which dropped the Raiders to 2-14 on the season, they are now in the driver’s seat for the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

And they control their own destiny, as it were, in that race.

Here is how the Raiders can lock up the first pick next spring.

With a 2-14 record, the Raiders have a “one-game lead” over the Giants in the race for the No. 1 pick.

With a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend, then the Raiders will have locked up the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Raiders can also clinch the top pick if the Giants win their game against the Dallas Cowboys.

There is also a third path to the No. 1 pick for the Raiders, involving their Strength of Schedule. Tiebreakers for the NFL Draft are decided by Strength of Schedule, with the team playing the weaker schedule having the better pick. If three of these teams lose — the Atlanta Falcons, the Chicago Bears, the Cleveland Browns, or the Seattle Seahawks — then the Raiders will be guaranteed to have the No.1 pick, as they will clinch a Strength of Schedule tiebreaker over the Giants.

What happened the last time the Raiders had the No.1 pick? That came back in 2007 when, like now, the Raiders needed a quarterback.

They selected JaMarcus Russell to start that draft.