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http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25500888/raiders-fire-general-manager-reggie-mckenzie
Raiders fire general manager Reggie McKenzie
Paul Gutierrez
The Oakland Raiders have fired general manager Reggie McKenzie, effective immediately, the team announced Monday.
"We are grateful for everything Reggie has done for this organization as a player, executive and member of the Raider family," the team said in a statement, adding that the team "will immediately begin a search for a new front office executive and will have no further comment until that process is complete."
McKenzie, 55, has been the Raiders' GM since 2012. He was under contract through the 2021 NFL draft as part of a four-year extension he signed in 2016.
Many wondered whether McKenzie, the 2016 NFL executive of the year, would fit in the organizational flow chart when head coach Jon Gruden was hired in January. Both insisted they would work together, and McKenzie recently said his job as general manager was to get Gruden the players that he wanted, not necessarily players that McKenzie liked.
"We're building this thing in concert together," McKenzie said in late October. "I'm talking about me and Coach Gru. We're doing this thing together."
Asked who might be "untouchable" on the Raiders' roster as the trade deadline loomed, McKenzie joked, "I'm untouchable."
McKenzie also spoke of reports of a rift between him and Gruden, calling it "comical."
"You talked about pulling the strings, and you know, Gruden and I, we work together very well," McKenzie said at the time. "Let's make no mistakes about it. Him pushing me out, that's not happening. Me not being able to work with Gruden, that's furthest from the truth. OK? We work really well together.
"We're in each other's offices all the time. Talking about players, who's up, who's down. Who I would like to see play more. Practice squad guys. About moving this guy. Claiming this guy. Trading. Guys calling me about trading this guy -- here's what I think, what do you think?
"Moving forward, when you talk about the negativity that I hear is between me and Gruden, there's been times I want to make a statement and say, 'Really?'"
The roster has been torn down, with the high-profile trades of All-Pro edge-rusher Khalil Mack on Sept. 1 and Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooperon Oct. 22, hastening the rebuild in Oakland less than two years before the franchise moves to Las Vegas.
In fact, only nine of McKenzie's 50 pre-Gruden draft picks (from 2012 through 2017) are on the Raiders' 53-man roster, and 36 current players did not spend a single day on Oakland's 53-man roster last season.
Raiders owner Mark Davis lauded the financial efforts of McKenzie, whom he often referred to as his "guy" upon hiring him three months after the death of Al Davis, crediting McKenzie's acumen in getting the Raiders out of "salary-cap hell."
But other than the 2014 draft, which netted Mack, quarterback Derek Carr, right guard Gabe Jackson and defensive tackle Justin Ellis, McKenzie's picks have left much to be desired, Davis said in a recent interview.
"It's been all part of an evolution, but I think it's becoming clearer and clearer to Jon as well that the talent is just not here at this time," Davis told ESPN.com last month.
"The drafts did not help supplement what we were doing in the free-agent market. If you look at our roster now, it's a bunch of free-agent one-year guys that are mercenaries. And they're great guys and they're Raiders. Once a Raider, always a Raider ... but we just don't have the overall talent of a 22-man roster."
Davis said on the night of Nov. 11, when the Raiders fell to 1-8, that the "buck" stopped with him, although he and McKenzie needed to "sit down and talk and figure out how we are going to go about the future. We've got to look in the mirror and figure out, where the hell did we go wrong in trying to build this thing?
"We failed. I have failed. But at the same time, we wouldn't have been in the great position we were in without Reggie McKenzie being here."
Since that night, the Raiders are 2-2.
The Raiders went 39-70 with McKenzie as GM, 29th in the NFL (.358 win percentage) during that time span.
NFL Network first reported the news of McKenzie's firing.
Raiders fire general manager Reggie McKenzie
Paul Gutierrez
The Oakland Raiders have fired general manager Reggie McKenzie, effective immediately, the team announced Monday.
"We are grateful for everything Reggie has done for this organization as a player, executive and member of the Raider family," the team said in a statement, adding that the team "will immediately begin a search for a new front office executive and will have no further comment until that process is complete."
McKenzie, 55, has been the Raiders' GM since 2012. He was under contract through the 2021 NFL draft as part of a four-year extension he signed in 2016.
Many wondered whether McKenzie, the 2016 NFL executive of the year, would fit in the organizational flow chart when head coach Jon Gruden was hired in January. Both insisted they would work together, and McKenzie recently said his job as general manager was to get Gruden the players that he wanted, not necessarily players that McKenzie liked.
"We're building this thing in concert together," McKenzie said in late October. "I'm talking about me and Coach Gru. We're doing this thing together."
Asked who might be "untouchable" on the Raiders' roster as the trade deadline loomed, McKenzie joked, "I'm untouchable."
McKenzie also spoke of reports of a rift between him and Gruden, calling it "comical."
"You talked about pulling the strings, and you know, Gruden and I, we work together very well," McKenzie said at the time. "Let's make no mistakes about it. Him pushing me out, that's not happening. Me not being able to work with Gruden, that's furthest from the truth. OK? We work really well together.
"We're in each other's offices all the time. Talking about players, who's up, who's down. Who I would like to see play more. Practice squad guys. About moving this guy. Claiming this guy. Trading. Guys calling me about trading this guy -- here's what I think, what do you think?
"Moving forward, when you talk about the negativity that I hear is between me and Gruden, there's been times I want to make a statement and say, 'Really?'"
The roster has been torn down, with the high-profile trades of All-Pro edge-rusher Khalil Mack on Sept. 1 and Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooperon Oct. 22, hastening the rebuild in Oakland less than two years before the franchise moves to Las Vegas.
In fact, only nine of McKenzie's 50 pre-Gruden draft picks (from 2012 through 2017) are on the Raiders' 53-man roster, and 36 current players did not spend a single day on Oakland's 53-man roster last season.
Raiders owner Mark Davis lauded the financial efforts of McKenzie, whom he often referred to as his "guy" upon hiring him three months after the death of Al Davis, crediting McKenzie's acumen in getting the Raiders out of "salary-cap hell."
But other than the 2014 draft, which netted Mack, quarterback Derek Carr, right guard Gabe Jackson and defensive tackle Justin Ellis, McKenzie's picks have left much to be desired, Davis said in a recent interview.
"It's been all part of an evolution, but I think it's becoming clearer and clearer to Jon as well that the talent is just not here at this time," Davis told ESPN.com last month.
"The drafts did not help supplement what we were doing in the free-agent market. If you look at our roster now, it's a bunch of free-agent one-year guys that are mercenaries. And they're great guys and they're Raiders. Once a Raider, always a Raider ... but we just don't have the overall talent of a 22-man roster."
Davis said on the night of Nov. 11, when the Raiders fell to 1-8, that the "buck" stopped with him, although he and McKenzie needed to "sit down and talk and figure out how we are going to go about the future. We've got to look in the mirror and figure out, where the hell did we go wrong in trying to build this thing?
"We failed. I have failed. But at the same time, we wouldn't have been in the great position we were in without Reggie McKenzie being here."
Since that night, the Raiders are 2-2.
The Raiders went 39-70 with McKenzie as GM, 29th in the NFL (.358 win percentage) during that time span.
NFL Network first reported the news of McKenzie's firing.
