Reggie McKenzie Wins Another Executive of the Year Award

Lost in news of relocation, Oakland Raiders General Manager has been awarded another Executive of the Year Award — this time from Sporting News.

Despite all the relocation talk that’s dominated the news, one of the biggest announcements today was Oakland Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie being awarded Sporting News’ Executive of the Year award — his second such award of the offseason.

The Raiders sent word out via their official Twitter account, including a picture showing an elated McKenzie accepting the honor.

McKenzie is certainly deserving of the recognition for this award, as he has completely turned around what once was the doormat team of the NFL.

Oakland is coming off their best season since 2002, which was also their last winning season. Raiders.com laid about the path it took for McKenzie to get there.

"“Since being named General Manager by Owner Mark Davis in 2012, four Raiders draft picks have gone on to receive Pro Bowl selections. Mack, the Raiders’ first-round pick in 2014, earned his second straight Pro Bowl nod, while QB Derek Carr, the team’s second-round selection that year, emerged as a Most Valuable Player candidate and has received Pro Bowl invitations in each of the last two seasons. WR Amari Cooper, the team’s first-round pick in 2015, has also earned two Pro Bowl selections after beginning his career with consecutive 1,000-yard receiving campaigns. RB Latavius Murray, a sixth-round pick in 2013, earned a Pro Bowl bid in 2015 and was named an alternate this past year.”"

After inheriting a mess — financially and talent wise — McKenzie righted the ship by first cutting the dead weight of bad contracts, and most importantly, by drafting well. A few blunders aside, McKenzie has more than made up for the bad picks by selecting franchise cornerstones in Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, and Amari Cooper, as well as others.

On top of the drafting, one of the most important aspects of McKenzie’s tenure has been his brilliant use of free agency. Initially, McKenzie relied on short-term deals of veterans such Justin Tuck to help clean up the salary cap from bloated contracts that were handed out in the final Al Davis years. Once some cap space was at his disposal, he began his calculated rebuilding with the addition of key contributors such as Kelechi Osemele, Rodney Hudson and Bruce Irvin, among others.

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If the last couple years of Reggie’s accomplishments and the Raiders’ successes are any indication of what the future holds, this won’t be the last time McKenzie goes home with some hardware.