Raiders fire GM Reggie McKenzie

The Oakland Raiders fired general manager Reggie McKenzie on Monday, less than two years after he was named the NFL’s executive of the year. McKenzie was let go from the position he had held for almost seven seasons a day after Oakland beat Pittsburgh 24-21 for its third win of the season. The Raiders announced the move in a brief statement thanking McKenzie for his time in Oakland and wishing him well.

McKenzie’s status was in doubt ever since coach Jon Gruden was given a 10year contract last January to take charge of the football operation for the Raiders. McKenzie’s influence had waned since then, with the Raiders cutting ties with several of the players he had acquired, most notably edge rusher Khalil Mack and receiver Amari Cooper.

“I’m not going to sit up here today and talk about any disconnect,” Gruden said. “We were connected. We were very good friends and very connected. I’ll leave it at that.”

McKenzie was the first major hire made by owner Mark Davis after he took over the team following the death of his father, Al, in 2011. McKenzie modernized the franchise, got the team out of salary cap purgatory, and built a roster that won 12 games under coach Jack Del Rio in 2016, earning him honours as the league’s top executive.

But the Raiders slumped to a 6-10 record last season, leading Davis to fire Del Rio and get Gruden to take the hefty contract after years of courting.

Gruden set out to overhaul the roster, trading away and cutting many of McKenzie’s former draft picks. That accelerated a week before the start of the season when Mack was dealt to Chicago for a package including two first-round picks and then Cooper was dealt in October to Dallas for another first-round pick.

With those deals, only nine players drafted by McKenzie from 2012-17 remain on the active roster.

Despite all that, McKenzie downplayed any rift in the relationship that dated back to the 1990s when both worked together in Green Bay.