Two days after losing on the road to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card round, the Las Vegas Raiders announced the dismissal of general manager Mike Mayock, who spent three chaotic seasons in the role. According to a report from NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, the decision to fire Mayock came days ago, but wasn't made official until Monday.
Although the Raiders managed to clinch an AFC playoff spot under Mayock's watch, their regular season couldn't have been more tumultuous. In October, Jon Gruden resigned as head coach, after a damning report revealed that he used highly offensive language in league-related emails across a seven-year period ending in 2018. Less than one month later, former first-round receiver Henry Ruggs III was charged with four felonies for his role in a fatal car crash.
"I think the Raiders are trending up. Right now, the Vegas favorite to [coach] in Vegas is Jim Harbaugh," Maggie Gray said during the Maggie and Perloff show on Tuesday. "If they end up landing the Michigan coach, we know his turnarounds have been quick. Vegas is an attractive place to be, so I think they're going to get a really good GM. And you still have a year left of Derek Carr, so that's a positive... There's a lot of things to like about the Raiders."
"How can you have the Raiders trending up? They're in the AFC West with Mahomes, Herbert, and what if Denver gets Rodgers? That's an impossible situation," Andrew Perloff said. "They've been hovering around .500. Yeah, they've had a couple good years. All these bad draft picks in the first round, they have to pay a price over time... I don't think they're committed to Carr. It's almost like they don't know what they're doing with Carr..."
The Raiders improved each year with Mayock -- they were 7-9 in 2019, 8-8 in 2020, and 10-7 this season -- but poor first-round draft choices didn't do the former NFL Network draft analyst any favors. Of the six players selected with first-round picks from 2019 to 2021 (Mayock and Gruden were in command), running back Josh Jacobs is the only star, and their entire 2020 draft class is considered a tremendous bust.
Despite second-half success with interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, the team has hopped onto the NFL's wild coaching carousel and started its search for a new leader. No matter who accepts an offer from the Raiders, the next coach and general manager will have to determine the future of veteran quarterback Derek Carr, who has one year remaining on his $125 million contract.
Maggie and Perloff's complete thoughts on the Raiders can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Maggie and Perloff Show on Twitter @MaggieandPerl and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.