The Raiders needed to shake things up. Las Vegas entered November 3–5, smarting from back-to-back double-digit losses at the hands of the Bears and Lions.
Accordingly, the Raiders fired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler on Oct. 31. McDaniels’s dismissal and the subsequent elevation of linebackers coach Antonio Pierce to interim coach seemed to instantly improve the mood of Las Vegas's locker room.
There is a catch: the firings reportedly came at a significant financial cost. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Raiders owner Mark Davis will shell out an astounding $85 million to sack McDaniels and Ziegler.
“Mark Davis demonstrated again this week that he will not let money influence how he operates his franchise,” Schefter wrote Saturday afternoon.
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McDaniels went 9–16 in two seasons with Las Vegas, his second stint as a head coach following a two-year tour with the Broncos from 2009 to ’10.
“Unfortunately, I had great hopes for Josh and Dave,” Davis told ESPN Wednesday. “It just seemed we were going in the wrong direction. So, with the trade deadline, I just felt it was time to make a change, time to make a move.”
Pierce will debut as the Raiders' interim boss on Sunday, when Las Vegas hosts the Giants.
