Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis continued this week by not letting money influence how the franchise is run.
The layoffs of head coach Josh McDaniels, general manager Dave Ziegler and some of the coaching staff will cost Davis about $85 million, league sources told ESPN.
Some of those costs will be covered through offsets and mitigation, but one person told ESPN that the layoffs were “still an expensive move.”
That’s not the only cost to the Raiders, as they also revised the contracts of interim head coach Antonio Pierce and interim general manager Champ Kelly.
Some people in the organization say Davis isn’t worried about money. He’s concerned about building a winning organization, which led to this week’s shakeup, and the cost is outrageous.
“Unfortunately, I had high expectations for Josh and Dave,” Davis told ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez on Wednesday. “It just seemed like we were going in the wrong direction. So at the trade deadline, we felt it was time to make a change, it was time to take action.”
Some sources predicted a shooting would occur. After the Raiders lost 30-12 to undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent on Oct. 22, a source close to the team texted ESPN and said, “I just asked if they lost on MNF. ” he said. [against the Lions]McDaniels [gone]. ”
In the week leading up to the Raiders’ elimination on “Monday Night Football,” no one verified the source’s text, but the idea was clear enough. Davis’ patience was wearing thin.
After Las Vegas’ 26-14 loss to the Lions on Monday night, Davis personally apologized to Raiders players for wasting their season, league sources told ESPN. He said he has told a few people that now is the time to do so. change.
Pierce will be the 12th person to coach a Raiders game over the past 20 seasons, including as interim coach. This is the most of any NFL franchise during that time period. Pierce will be the Raiders’ eighth coach, either interim or permanent, since Davis took over the team following the death of his father, Al Davis, in October 2011. Pierce is McDaniels, Rich Bisaccia, Jon Gruden, Jack Del Rio, Tony Sparano, Dennis Allen, Hue Jackson.
Naturally, this instability came at a cost to Davis, in addition to financial concerns. The Raiders haven’t won a division title since 2002 and are tied with the Jets for the third-longest active drought in the NFL, behind the Browns (1989) and Lions (1993).
Davis said he was “intrigued” enough by Pierce’s resume, which includes a nine-year NFL career as a linebacker, one Pro Bowl selection and a Super Bowl win with the New York Giants, to make his NFL head coaching debut on Sunday. He said that he is scheduled to play against the New York Giants. –To sit down with him.
“It seemed like a fresh approach,” Davis said. “It seemed like a necessary adjustment at this time. I’m impressed.”
Davis added that Pierce “understands the Raiders culture and that’s important to me. I felt really good about that.”
