Gruden still runs the show, but hiring a draft expert makes sense.
The Raiders have a new general manager. And in their quest to find the right man to rubber stamp unfireable coach Jon Gruden’s roster-building decisions, they turned to a man with zero NFL front office experience.
Oakland (let’s call them Oakland for sake of simplicity, as no one knows where the club will be playing in 2019) hired NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock as its next general manager. He’ll replace the since-fired Reggie McKenzie, whose death rattle as the team’s architect wheezed out trades that saw his two most successful first-round draft picks, Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper, serve as the catalysts for other teams’ playoff bids.
Raiders are hiring NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock as their general manager, league sources tell ESPN. The announcement will be made as early as today.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2018
Mayock is a name closely associated with the NFL. He spent the 1982 and 1983 seasons in the league as a safety. He’s been an analyst and commentator for the NFL Network since 2004. He’s also called games in the booth and as a sideline reporter in the NFL, NCAA, and even NCAA basketball. He’s got a wealth of football experience under his belt, especially when it comes to analyzing draft prospects.
But he’s never actually worked in an NFL front office before. He hasn’t been employed by a franchise since that early 80s stint as a defensive back. His decision making and analysis has all come in hypothetical situations. His general manager experience has effectively come the builder of fantasy rosters. An extremely knowledgeable and well-connected one, but still one that’s never dealt with the rigors and moving parts of constructing an actual NFL team.
And that’s OK, because the Raiders just need him to nail a few draft picks to be successful. Five, to be exact.
Mayock is the perfect figurehead hire for a team that didn’t want anyone to get in Jon Gruden’s way
Oakland’s sudden indifference to McKenzie, the 2016 NFL Executive of the Year, set the template for the club’s general manager position going forward. His firing in December, in which he was offered the chance to finish out the season as a lame duck figurehead with no real power, told the rest of the NFL what most people already suspected; Gruden was running the show, and his GM is mostly there to rubber stamp decisions and keep only Gruden’s wildest urges in check.
But the Raiders’ 2018 moves also added another wrinkle to the position; the club also needs someone who can hit multiple first-round draft picks in the immediate future.
Oakland shipped off two of its brightest stars this fall, trading Khalil Mack to the Bears and Cooper to the Cowboys in exchange for, among other things, two first round picks in 2019 and another in 2020. The value of those picks immediately sank as Mack and Cooper helped turn 2018 non-contenders into 2019 division champions. So, with bonus picks in the 20s looming, the franchise needed a draft maestro who can either find All-Pro gold in the latter stages of Day 1 at the draft, or identify the prized prospect who is worth trading multiple picks to move up and select.
The Raiders need a general manager who can calm fans’ fears about Gruden’s roster management without clashing with a bombastic head coach. They also needed a guy who can help guide a team to the prospects it needs to rebuild, especially with five first round draft picks over the next two seasons. The franchise went looking for a guy who won’t get in the way, appears knowledgeable, and has a strong background in the NFL Draft.
By those parameters, Oakland found the end zone with Mayock.
Mayock’s primary duty will be to keep a head coach with an ironclad nine years and $90 million remaining on his contract happy. His secondary duty, which is still pretty important, will be to offer even-handed drafting advice and analysis. He’s going to have to be the guy who talks Gruden down when he falls in love with the next Christian Hackenberg. And maybe the guy who refreshes Gruden’s memory on how replay challenges work.
You don’t need NFL front office experience to do that. You just need a recognizable public figure who is willing to stay in his lane. Mayock fits the bill.
It’s not an especially weird hire when you look at trends across U.S. sport. Hiring a media expert isn’t a move limited to the Raiders. The NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers hired Sports Illustrated writer Lee Jenkins to their front office earlier in 2018. Multiple Major League Baseball executiveshave started their careers in the media. What Oakland’s doing isn’t especially strange or unique; this could work well for owner Mark Davis.
Everything about the Raiders right now is a little weird. They hired their head coach out of the Monday Night Football booth nearly a decade after he’d coached his last football game. They burned their bridge in Oakland and now sit in limbo trying to figure out a place to play before their Las Vegas palace opens in 2020. Their general manager is the NFL Network’s former draft guru.
There’s at least one thing we know won’t happen during the Mayock era with the Raiders. No orangutans, or any other zoo animals for that matter, will be allowed to deliver the team’s draft picks.