Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis proved that money would not be an issue when it comes to making the tough decisions for his franchise.
Earlier this week, the Raiders parted ways with general manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels after the team lost to the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football to drop to 3-5 on the season.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, those decisions will not be cheap – as sources told him that Las Vegas will have to shell out $85million as a result of their firing.
Offsets and mitigation will defray some of the costs, but a source told ESPN that this was ‘an expensive move nonetheless’.
The Raiders also re-worked the contracts of interim GM Champ Kelly and interim head coach Antonio Pierce.
(L to R) Ex- Raiders GM Dave Ziegler, owner Mark Davis, ex-head coach Josh McDaniels
McDaniels (L) and Ziegler (R) will cost the Raiders $85million after they were fired
The Raiders installed interim GM Champ Kelly (L) and interim head coach Antonio Pierce (R)
Sources told Schefter that Davis is more concerned about putting a winning team together rather than managing the franchise’s finances.
‘Unfortunately, I had great hopes for Josh and Dave,’ Davis told ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez on 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.’
The Raiders’ 26-14 loss to Detroit solidified the fate of the front office and Davis appeared more than willing to smash the panic button now.
The owner reportedly apologized to some of the players for ‘wasting their season’ and he confided in some people within the organization that a change was necessary.
