What’s next for Mark Davis and Tom Brady?
The Las Vegas Raiders made the unexpected move to fire general manager Tom Telesco on Thursday, meaning they will be replacing both him and coach Antonio Pierce, who was fired Tuesday:
Here are some initial thoughts on the move:
Weird timing:
Moments after Pierce was fired, there were several reports that Telesco would be retained and last month, Raiders owner Mark Davis was complimentary of him. Now, he’s gone with Pierce. There have been reports Davis and several people, including new part owner Tom Brady met after Pierce was fired and then Davis decided to fire Telesco. It follows a long Davis-led tradition of not really having a cohesive plan. The decisions, even if they were made separately, should have been made at the same time on both Pierce and Telesco. The way makes it looks like this group is making things up as they go along. Not the most smooth start to this process as the Raiders will be looking for a new coach and general manager for the third time in three years.
No downplaying Brady’s role:
There’s no doubt about it; Brady is and will be heavily involved all Raiders’ big decisions. There is now no longer the question of how the power will be split between Telesco and Brady. Now, the question will be how much power the new GM will have. However, along with power, Brady will have pressure in a position he has no experience in. If the following hires don’t work, he will have to face the music along with Davis.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Got certain guys in mind?
The timing of this move makes one wonder if the Raiders are targeting a certain target to sweeten the gig. Perhaps a coach could come in with a hand-pick GM or they could have the power now that the Telesco is gone. The Raiders have reportedly requested to talk to Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, Todd Monken, Steve Spagnuolo and Robert Saleh. Johnson may be the coach that this is designed to appeal to the most.
What will coach/GM relationship be?
Will the coach have the power or will the general manager be in charge? It will likely all depend on the coach will be.
Will GM be separate or package deal?
There are currently six head coaching jobs open and three general manager openings with the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans being the others. My gut is the coach and GM will be a package deal, but we will have to see how that pans out.
Reset could be advantage:
The Raiders may be hoping a clean house will appeal to the top candidates. Johnson for example is also interviewing with Chicago, New England and Jacksonville. All of those teams have a general manager in place. They all also have quarterbacks, so the Raiders may be trying to get any advantage they can get. The Jets is the other opening with a clean slate.
Belichick in play?
NFL Media reported Brady reached out to his New England coach Bill Belichick to check on his interest in leaving North Carolina to join him in Las Vegas. That report has been downplayed and the word is Belichick is happy where he is. But a full power gig in Las Vegas will not stop the Belichick rumors.
Telesco caught in the middle:
It seems Telesco was fired because Davis and Brady want a clean slate. if Pierce had better success, they probably would be back in 2025. This is not saying Pierce was totally at fault for 2024. It was Telesco that didn’t give him a quarterback upgrade and injuries helped as well. I think Telesco’s biggest failure in his one season was he didn’t do much in free agency other than signing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images
Telesco’s legacy:
Tom Telesco didn’t have a long history with the Silver and Black but he will be remembered as the guy who drafted Brock Bowers and that’s a plenty nice memory. Telesco ignored other greater needs at No. 13 and took the Georgia tight end despite it not be a pressing need. It worked out pretty well as Bowers set one NFL record after another. Telesco also seemed to hit on guard Jackson Powers-Johnson in the second round and waiver claims Jonah Laulu and Thomas were nice adds as was in-season signing K’Lavon Chaisson. So, he did some nice things in his cameo stint in Las Vegas.
What will Maxx think?
Raiders’ star defensive end has said he is tired of change on his podcast after Pierce was fired and he interestingly mentioned the front office:
“There’s a lot of decisions to be made, not only on a personal level. I have to make the decision that’s best for me.” Crosby said on his podcast. “I’m going to see. Don’t know what the coach is going to look like, the front office. There’s going to be a lot of changes. Again … We’re going to see what happens. I love being a Raider. I want to win here. I want to win with the Raiders but we’ll see. There’s going to be a lot of changes. I’m just going to take it one day at a time.”
It wasn’t like Crosby was overly connected to Telesco, but this is just another example of instability.
Still all about quarterback:
Telesco’s biggest challenge this offseason was going to be at quarterback. And that will be the biggest challenge for his replacement.