Oakland Raiders willing to spend ‘a lot of money’ on Jon Gruden

To nobody’s surprise the minute the reports that head coach Dennis Allen would be fired by the Oakland Raiders, separate reports have came out that owner Mark Davis is looking to attempt to lure Jon Gruden back to the franchise where he was traded to beat in the Super Bowl the following year. Perhaps trying to right his father’s perhaps biggest mistake during his career, Mark Davis has his eyes set on Gruden even if the former Raiders and Buccaneers head coach has been off the sidelines for many years at this point.

According to Mike Silver of the NFL Network and NFL.com, the Oakland Raiders are planning on trying whatever it takes to get Gruden off of Monday Night Football, Corona commercials altogether and back into head coaching. That also means being willing to spend significant money to do so.

From NFL.com

"Silver told NFL Total Access on Tuesday that an “emotional connection” still exists between Gruden and the Raiders, with sources telling him “that there have been overtures, even before this, to Jon Gruden — that Mark Davis is prepared to spend a lot of money, because that’s what it would take to pry Jon out of the booth and back to Oakland.”Oakland’s interest in Gruden — who coached the Raiders from 1998 to 2001 — confirms what NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport noted Monday night, saying that Oakland is looking for a “superstar” coach who can generate wins on the field and in “every single aspect” of the franchise."

There is no secret that the Raiders are going to try anything and everything to get Jon Gruden or an equivalent proven name to be their next head coach after trying to take the modest rebuilding/deconstructing route with Dennis Allen got them just eight wins over two plus seasons. Gruden’s record outside of Oakland was just a modest two games over .500 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where things went south the longer the franchise moved from the Tony Dungy era to a Gruden assembled franchise. That doesn’t mean that Gruden is incapable of leading a team to the promised land again, but his price tag and the power they may have to concede in the front office to get him back to Oakland may be very steep come the 2015 offseason. This story isn’t going anywhere, so expect many of reports attaching the Raiders to Gruden until the new head coach is named down the road.

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