The Oakland Raiders 2018 Season Thread

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

Gruden has dudes retiring in mid season

 

[Kingof402]

Jesus Christ man. This is so bad. Dudes begging to be released, players retire mid season, traded away all the young core. This is a complete disaster an embarrassment a dumpster fire. Gruden has lost the team and the fans. I love this franchise and have my whole life, but this is flat out ridiculous. This is the most embarrassing and disfunctional confused franchise in sports history. This team would lose to Alabama no question

 

[The_Isomotion31]

These boys would beat the Raiders. Tweeter would have 10 receptions 130 yards and 3 Tds. Mox would go off, and if Wendell never got his knee hurt at least dropping 40 points. Ain't no one getting through Billy Bob on the defensive line.

 

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...ops-me?platform=amp&__twitter_impression=true




What a embarrassing team

 

[mr jordan04]

So what REALLY happened vs Washington last year?

 

[raider5]

Plug us @johnny cakes

 

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

Plug us @johnny cakes

By Vic Tafur


Mark Davis was never going to blame Jon Gruden nine months after the Raiders owner gave him a 10-year blank check to coach his team. And after declining interview requests from The Athletic for months, Davis told ESPN on Sunday night that he and general manager Reggie McKenzie have “got to look in the mirror and figure out, where the hell did we go wrong in trying to build this thing?”

The Raiders are 1-8 after Sunday’s 20-6 loss to the Chargers and have not scored a touchdown in the last nine quarters. The fans booed often throughout the second half and Davis said that hits him in the heart.

“I feel so bad for the fans because they want to win,” Davis told ESPN. “Everybody in this organization is built around winning. We don’t have the tools right now to do it and it’s nobody’s fault but our own and when it comes down to it, it’s my fault …

“Where this team is right now is my fault. We haven’t been able to build a 22-man roster. We haven’t been able to give this team a chance to win because the reconstruction failed. We failed from 2014 on to have a roster right now.”

The Raiders apparently decided before this season started that the roster wasn’t good enough after trading away defensive end Khalil Mack. Davis said he felt Mack was going to extend his holdout into the regular season just like Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell has.

Davis said the Raiders first offered Mack a contract extension in 2017 but agent Joel Segal wanted to wait. And then they reached out again in February and the two sides weren’t close.

“Jon wanted him,” Davis said. “Everybody thinks that Jon’s the one who wanted to get rid of him. Jon wanted him badly. … But if, in fact we were going to give the type of money that we were going to give to him and we had Derek (Carr) on that type of a (contract), how were we going to go ahead and build this football team, with all the holes that we had?”

Mack has not discussed what went on in the negotiations, only saying that he was shocked at being traded.

Davis said he initially thought Mack would eventually report to the team after training camp and play out his fifth-year option.

“And then we’ll work for him during the year and get it,” Davis said. “Word came back through certain players that know him and talk to him and know me as well that he wasn’t going to come in. He was going to do the Le’Veon Bell (holdout). At that point, I said, ‘F it. The guy hasn’t talked to anybody. We’ve got to do something.’”

And so they traded Mack and a second-round pick to the Bears for two first-rounders. Raiders players have said the timing, a week before the season, of losing your best player for nothing this season was devastating. And Davis points to Mack for that.

“I don’t have any bad feelings toward (Mack),” Davis said. “I wish he would have talked to Jon and Reggie and wanted to at least honor the fifth year of his contract.”

Gruden or Davis haven’t said exactly when they decided this year’s roster wasn’t good enough, but the Mack trade signaled a waving of the white flag for this season. And the veteran players knew it.

“It’s been all part of an evolution, but I think it’s becoming clearer and clearer to Jon as well that the talent is just not here at this time,” Davis said.

Davis blames the recent draft classes and called the veterans the Raiders signed this offseason “mercenaries.”

“The drafts did not help supplement what we were doing in the free-agent market,” he said. “If you look at our roster now, it’s a bunch of free-agent one-year guys that are mercenaries. And they’re great guys and they’re Raiders. Once a Raider, always a Raider … but we just don’t have the overall talent.”

The Raiders did trade both Mack and receiver Amari Cooper. In fact, Gruden has cut or traded away 18 of McKenzie’s draft picks since being hired and only 11 players from the 2012-17 drafts remain on the roster.

While McKenzie recently said Gruden “is not pushing me out,” Davis acknowledged that he will meet with McKenzie to discuss the big picture at some point.

“Reggie and I need to sit down and talk and figure out how we are going to go about the future,” Davis said. “We failed. I have failed. But at the same time, we wouldn’t have been in the great position we were in without Reggie McKenzie being here.”

Davis, who fired coach Jack Del Rio last year for going 6-10, was not asked Sunday night why Gruden felt he had to gut the roster. Or why Gruden traded a third-round pick for receiver Martavis Bryant with one year remaining on his contract if the Raiders thought before this year’s draft that they couldn’t win this year.

But it’s clear: no matter how many games the Raiders lose this season, Gruden and his staff are being given a pass.

“Jon has a 10-year contract,” Davis said. ”I know how hard Jon Gruden works. I know how much he wants to win. And how much days like today are killing him. Having Jon Gruden here was the endgame for me. Jon’s going to be the stability here. Jon’s going nowhere. That’s just the way it is.”

Davis also said that Carr is the quarterback of the future “right now.”

“Derek’s taking a lot of **** right now,” Davis said. ”He is the franchise quarterback right now. He doesn’t have Amari Cooper. He lost Bryant to a knee injury today. Guys have been getting hurt. Who’s he throwing to? Jordy Nelson and Seth Roberts, which are good guys. But they’re not putting the fear of God in anybody.

“The tight end (Jared Cook) is playing his *** off. You look at the quarterback and he’s playing behind a battered offensive line … so I don’t know what you can put on Derek and I don’t think it’s fair to put all the blame on him.”

Davis also said again that he wants to play next season in Oakland, even though the Raiders haven’t signed a lease yet and there are possible lawsuits from the city hanging in the air.

“I personally want to play in Oakland,” Davis said. “I absolutely want to play in Oakland. We have a completed lease sitting with the city council, that all they have to do is agree to it and we’re here next year …

”Emotionally, I would say, why would I give them $3, 4, $5 million in rent that they’re going to turn around and use to sue me? But, at the same time, if they’ll have us, I can’t turn on the fans. I can’t do it. And this is terrible negotiating I’m doing now. I’m going to get killed. But that’s just the way I am.”

Interestingly, Davis also mentioned last year’s Week 3 loss in Washington as a turning point. Coaches and players disagreed on how to handle the league-wide national anthem debate, and some players sat while others stood before the nationally televised game.

“That’s when I felt a big turn in this organization,” Davis said. “I don’t know what the hell happened, but we got destroyed in the game and it just seemed like the team never picked itself back up.

“Someday, the story may come out. I don’t have the full story. … I’ve never seen a team change that quickly. And the Raiders stand for social justice. So to see any type of division is really hard for me.”

(Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

 

[Kingof402]

So what REALLY happened vs Washington last year?

Exactly. That was the turning point. Something happend that night in the Locker room that this team never recovered from

 

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

Dude said “F It” and traded Mack this team is just as bad off the field

 

[Kingof402]

Yeah, this organization is done until the Davis family is no longer connected

 

[njavier03]

Eh, idk if you can exactly blame Mark. In hindsight, I’m sure Pitt would’ve traded Le’Veon if they say the season play out the way it has.

 

[raider5]

Eh, idk if you can exactly blame Mark. In hindsight, I’m sure Pitt would’ve traded Le’Veon if they say the season play out the way it has.

Conner playing as well as he is definitely helps. We had no back up plan. Unless you count drafting Bosa with the #1 overall pick as our back up plan

 

[raider5]

Yeah, this organization is done until the Davis family is no longer connected

Vegas will either be financially great for Mark or it will break him to the point where he will be forced to sell. Either way the NFL and Goodell win.

 

[sohi 23]

Exactly. That was the turning point. Something happend that night in the Locker room that this team never recovered from

Somebody gotta write a book about that day. Whole team flipped.

 

[Kingof402]

Somebody gotta write a book about that day. Whole team flipped.

The truth will come out one day. But you can tell the tide turned that night and this locker room crumbled. I believe Carr lost the team that night as well, the black players especially

 

[njavier03]

Conner playing as well as he is definitely helps. We had no back up plan. Unless you count drafting Bosa with the #1 overall pick as our back up plan

It possibly could have been. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Bosa though, bc there are some other good pass rushers in this draft. I think Mark said eff it bc he could draft one and save all that money to use on the many other holes we have on this team. I think the organization knew we weren’t going to be contending this year, but didn’t expect it to be THIS bad. I knew the narrative of Jon’s ego and not wanting Mack was BS. NO ONE would let him go if they had a choice. Mark did the smart thing by not paying Mack.

I am still very curious as to what happened in the locker room during that Washington game bc I was there. That **** was embarrassing.

 

[Kingof402]

It’s deeper than Carr just didn’t wanna kneel. That locker room separated that night and our o line gave up on Carr, I don’t care what anyone says Carr lost the team that night

 

[ThePeoplesChamp_]

You don’t trade HOF pass rusher in your prime. You could played hardball with him and then franchise tag him until 2020 mark is a moron

 

[raider5]

It possibly could have been. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Bosa though, bc there are some other good pass rushers in this draft. I think Mark said eff it bc he could draft one and save all that money to use on the many other holes we have on this team. I think the organization knew we weren’t going to be contending this year, but didn’t expect it to be THIS bad. I knew the narrative of Jon’s ego and not wanting Mack was BS. NO ONE would let him go if they had a choice. Mark did the smart thing by not paying Mack.

I am still very curious as to what happened in the locker room during that Washington game bc I was there. That **** was embarrassing.

You’re right about no one not wanting Mack. But you gotta ask yourself this, if the Niners were willing to trade for Mack and they are paying Jimmy G even more than Carr, and have equally as many holes as the Raiders, then what does that say? I’m sure plenty of other teams see it the same way. Mack is a cornerstone you do not give up. You pay and build around that.

And Mark Davis simply saying “F it” when he simply “heard” he wasn’t coming in is equally as alarming as every other bad decision we’ve made since Gruden’s hire. How bout he get his cheap *** a ticket on Southwest Airlines and fly to Mack and talk this **** out? The fact that Mack was even surprised they traded him said a lot...

I’ll never believe a damn thing to come out of Mark’s mouth. Dude is a straight up liar and doesn’t give a **** about anything except trying to play catch up to his NFL owner colleagues. I’ll never believe a damn thing to come out of Gruden’s mouth either. Both them dudes are full of **** and I really believe we will never achieve **** as long as these two are at the highest levels of the organization.

Gonna be a ****** 9 years fellas.

 

[njavier03]

The Niners aren’t as bad as we are though. Their defense as a whole isn’t great, but they’re definitely better. Their OL and WR corp isn’t that bad either. Most of their guys are young, while we have very little to homegrown talent. I can’t say they’re in the same boat as us.

All I’m saying is that y’all would be just as mad if we paid Mack and were still 1-8. Mack moves the needle on defense, but he wouldn’t have impacted our OL, Coop, Jordy, or MB. He wouldn’t have improved our punter or special teams either. We have major problems everywhere. How can we pay 50 quality players when 2 make 25% of the cap? Look at many other teams in the league that are successful that DONT pay players max money.

 

[raider5]

You and I can disagree on the philosophy and it’s all good at the end of the day homie.

It’s seriously fascinating to break this **** down because there are levels to this that can be looked at in multiple ways.

But I’ll say for better or for worse, if we kept Mack then we wouldn’t be 1-8 right now and we’d get much better effort than whatever it is we’re seeing now. That Mack trade lost the team for Gruden. It’s gonna be tough as hell for him to recover from that. Maybe we’re not a playoff team but we’d be a respectable football team at least.

Someone on 957 brought up an interesting point today too (phone caller) - how important is it for Gruden to have “his guys” since the stigma of his SB team is it was Dungy’s team?

 

[njavier03]

Idk man. I’m just looking at it in terms of what we got moving forward. Mack is gone, Coop is gone, whatever happened in the locker room happened, so it’s probably best to start over with “Gruden’s team” if Carr really did lose the locker room after the Skins game. If all that is true, I doubt said players will all of a sudden have a chance of heart. It is what it is at this point. We can either keep cursing Mark and Jon or try to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Either way, we’re either Raider fans or we’re not. I just don’t see the point of being in here if you’re just gonna talk about how bad the team is. Not you specifically raider5 , just generally speaking.

 

[raider5]

You can be talking about me and it’s all good at the end of the day we’re all fans so we’re either going to be criticizing or celebrating.

You’re absolutely right though. It is what it is at this point and depending on how you see things unfolding will determine how optimistic you’ll be.

For me, I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel as long as Jon and Mark are in charge and that is what’s disheartening to me since I’ve been a fan since I came out the womb.

 

[Kingof402]

I am guilty of bashing us lately. It’s just my patience for this **** year in and year out is done. I’m 35 years old been a fan since I was like 5 years old. We finally get some hope and success with Carr and Mack and co in 2016 they flourish and now we’re back to irrelevant and blowing it up. It’s been a roller coaster the last 2 and a half seasons. From super bowl hopes to 1st pick in 2 seasons. I’m annoyed and irritated and pissed off

 

[mr jordan04]

Raiders gonna blame Mack. Mack gonna blame the raiders.

We’ll never know the truth and/if Mack was even going to show up

Both sides are to blame for it, but that trade definitely lost any ounce of momentum the team had going into the year.