After making the playoffs in 2021, the Las Vegas Raiders traded for Davante Adams, one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. The move didn’t pay off, as the Raiders finished 6-11 and missed the postseason. This offseason, the Raiders made a switch at quarterback. Longtime Raider Derek Carr was out, and Jimmy Garoppolo was in. That move hasn’t really worked out either, and the Raiders entered the midway point of the season tied for last place in the AFC West.
That poor performance was enough for Raiders owner Mark Davis to make another change — this time in the middle of the season.
Davis fired his general manager, Dave Ziegler, head coach, Josh McDaniels, and additional members of the coaching staff. And it’s costing him big money to do so.
Josh McDaniels (L) and Mark Davis (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
The firings will cost a collective $85 million. There will be some offsets and mitigations, so Davis may get some slight financial relief. Still, he will have to spend tons of money to pay people to go away. The Raiders are also restructuring the contracts of interim head coach Antonio Pierce and interim GM Champ Kelly.
“It just seemed we were going in the wrong direction,” Davis told ESPN earlier in the month. “So, with the trade deadline, I just felt it was time to make a change, time to make a move.”
The Raiders lost 30-12 to a Bears team that hadn’t won a home game in over a calendar year. The Raiders then lost 26-14 to the Detroit Lions in a nationally televised “Monday Night Football” game. After those two defeats, Davis had seen enough.
It’s yet another change for a franchise that hasn’t found much stability since its last division title, all the way back in 2002. Davis took over as the Raiders owner after his dad, Al Davis, died in 2011. Pierce will be the eighth head coach the Raiders have had on the sidelines since the younger Davis has owned the team.
Maybe these changes will help salvage the Raiders season or at least set them up for future success. The Raiders walloped the Giants (another team having a disappointing year) in the first game after the firings.
Either way, Davis has made it clear: He’s not afraid to spend lots of money to try and field a winner — even if those decisions end up backfiring.