Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis said the decision to fire General Manager Reggie McKenzie on Monday was a “tough” one for him to make.
According to Scott Bair of NBC Bay Area, Davis thanked McKenzie for his efforts toward the franchise during his seven years as the head of the team’s personnel department. Davis also noted the difficulty of making the call to move on from McKenzie.
“Reggie is a great person with a great family,” Davis said. “It was tough [to make the decision]. It was tough for him early on, but he was unselfish. He could’ve done some things for instant gratification, but he didn’t do that. He worked hard for our organization, and we are thankful for everything he did for the Raiders.”
McKenzie endured a difficult first three seasons in Oakland as the Raiders won just 11 of 48 games over that span as the team attempted a total rebuild. The effort peaked in 2016 with a 12-4 record and a postseason appearance for the first time in 14 years. However, a broken leg sustained by Derek Carr in the final weeks of the season scuttled any hope of a deep playoff run.
The team scuffled to a 6-10 mark in 2017 with Jon Gruden’s return to the Bay Area relegating McKenzie’s presence in the organization to a footnote. The reality is that with Gruden signed to a 10-year contract, McKenzie’s influence was trampled upon. The person with the lengthier, higher cost commitment was always going to win out.
Gruden won. McKenzie lost. Now it’s Gruden that will have to re-imagine the future of the Raiders franchise once again as they push toward a Las Vegas relocation in 2020.