The Las Vegas Raiders and their fan base have a complicated relationship with Antonio Pierce. On the one hand, his tenure as the full-time head coach was disastrous, and he's been no friend of Raider Nation since, attending Kansas City Chiefs practice and ragging on the team numerous times.
But on the other hand, Pierce's time as the interim inspired the fan base, and his teams provided more hope and better results than the team's other two most recent coaches. He was ultimately fired because owner Mark Davis felt like there were better options out there, and there certainly were.
Las Vegas didn't get one of them, however. They landed with a combination of Pete Carroll, Geno Smith and Chip Kelly this offseason, which has been the organization's worst move in recent memory. Things legitimately could not be worse for the Raiders than they are right now.
Antonio Pierce says he and Mark Davis were on the Shedeur Sanders train
The Raiders just got smoked at home by the Shedeur Sanders-led Cleveland Browns in Week 12, dropping them to 2-9. Even though Sanders didn't play exceptionally well, he looked like an MVP candidate compared to the outing Smith put together for the Silver and Black.
Pierce spoke on NFL Today+ on CBS before the matchup, and he talked about Sanders before his first career start. Las Vegas' former head coach also talked about the Raiders' view of Sanders when he was still in the building, and it's pretty much what fans expected.
"First of all, when I was with the Raiders, [Sanders] was one of our top choices. If I would've stayed there, there's no way he goes to the fifth round. I'm making that choice; the decision that we're drafting him. Mark Davis was on board with that," Pierce said. "Our organization was on board. We believed in what we saw with Shedeur, and saw enough, obviously, with the situation I dealt with at quarterback."
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There was so much smoke surrounding Sanders and the Raiders, especially early in the draft process, that fans knew there was a fire. Of course, the new regime passed on Sanders seven times in the event, and time will ultimately tell if that was the right decision or not.
The selection of Ashton Jeanty has not been fruitful for Las Vegas, but no rookie would be having success under Carroll and Kelly and behind this offensive line. A young quarterback like Sanders might have provided a bit more optimism for the future, but it's bleak no matter how you slice it.
Pierce certainly wasn't right about everything, or most things, but fans owe him an apology. Whereas he was made to be the scapegoat for a lot of the Raiders' issues last season, it seems like the problems in Las Vegas run much, much deeper than just one man.
Smith has been the team's worst quarterback in decades, and there is no way that Sanders would have been worse. It's all hindsight, but fans can't help but rethink a lot of their grievances with Pierce after the campaign Carroll and Co. have put together with Smith under center.