The Las Vegas Raiders are always interesting. Sadly, that's not a good thing.
The team has been incredibly messy this offseason. First, they made Antonio Pierce give his end-of-season press conference a day before firing him. Then the rumors were that general manager Tom Telesco was safe and that held for most of the week
That was until the Raiders announced on Thursday that they've actually decided to fire Telesco.
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 9, 2025
It's hard to understand why the Raiders do things the way that they do. It seems like the team is always creating drama.
For Telesco's part, he wasn't terrible in Year 1. His first draft landed the team tight end Brock Bowers and offensive lineman Jackson Powers-Johnson, who both look like franchise cornerstones.
The only truly terrible move that he made was signing Garnder Minshew to a two-year, $25 million contract and then not drafting a quarterback. However, the Raiders didn't really have a clear path to land a better quarterback.
This move appears to have Tom Brady's fingerprints all over it. This is bold even for Mark Davis. It seems like he probably wanted to keep Telesco but Brady thought they should reset. It's easy to understand that logic but then it makes last offseason look completely baffling in hindsight.
According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, part of the reason why Telesco was let go was because the Raiders wanted to have a "cohesive partnership" between the next head coach and general manager.
From what I was told, Telesco was fired mostly because ownership seems to prefer having the general manager and head coach more connected—like a cohesive partnership—rather than something that feels more arranged or forced. Brady has lots of influence in Las Vegas.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 9, 2025
Telesco didn't do enough for any fans to be sad that he's gone but this process seems weird. However, this is Brady's first year being a part owner and if Davis wants him to control the football operations, he should be able to do what he wants.
Time will tell if this was a wise move but the Raiders head coaching job could now be more appealing to candidates who want to bring their own general manager along.