How the Raiders got to the point of cleaning house so fast

HC Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler last just a year and a half before being shown the door on Halloween.

The Las Vegas Raiders have already started a new era and we’ve only just started the month of November. Late Tuesday night, Raiders owner Mark Davis made the decision to fire both head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler after just 25 games. They won just nine of those 25 games after a 6-11 season in 2022 and a 3-5 start this season.

The timing of the firing may be surprising — just 25 games in and with the Raiders on a short week following their Monday loss to the Detroit Lions — but the overall end result isn’t. The team, especially the offense, became a mess under McDaniels awhile Ziegler made no moves at the trade deadline to give the team any sense of direction.

So how did we get to this point so quickly? Let’s dive in to the short but eventual tenure of the McDaniels/Ziegler regime in Las Vegas.

Starting off right with Carr/Adams reunion

The Raiders officially announced the hiring of McDaniels on January 31, 2022. They hired Ziegler right around the same time. Both were connected throughout their football careers, both in college and in the NFL. Ziegler was previously the Director of Player Personnel for the New England Patriots, so his connection with McDaniels helped him land the general manager position for the Raiders.

One of the regime’s first big moves was landing a big offseason fish, trading for wide receiver Davante Adams from the Green Bay Packers in March. Las Vegas traded their first and second-round picks in the 2022 draft to the Packers for Adams.