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Las Vegas Raiders Fire GM Mike Mayock After 3 Years Of Mixed Results

By Jacob Schyvinck

Dec 3, 2021; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders general manager Mike Mayock reacts during the 2021 Pac-12 Championship Game at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2021; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders general manager Mike Mayock reacts during the 2021 Pac-12 Championship Game at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Las Vegas Raiders relieved GM Mike Mayock of his duties after three seasons. Was it actually the right call?

After their playoff loss to the Bengals, the Las Vegas Raiders have relieved Mike Mayock of his duties as general manager, effective immediately. Mayock was hired as the GM in 2019 away from NFL Network, joining Jon Gruden in what many believed was an interesting pair. Mayocks’ jump away from television to the pros was somewhat of a dream come true.

He inherited a situation where the Raiders moved on from stars Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack, and had a trio of picks in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft to help reload the roster.Fast forward three seasons, and the decisions made by Mayock in the draft and free agency is a wildly mixed bag.

In 2019, Clelin Ferrell was the first pick made in the Mayock/Gruden era, followed by Alabama running back Josh Jacobs and safety Johnathan Abram. Ferrell has been a big time miss, as has Abram. Jacobs has been up and down, but his usage this season has been better, yielding good results.

The first round picks continued to be an issue. The Raiders had two more in 2020, drafting Henry Ruggs III and Damon Arnette, both of which were misses due to off-field issues. In 2021, Mayock and company drafted Alex Leatherwood in the first round after gutting the offensive line in free agency. Leatherwood has transitioned inside after being drafted to play tackle, and the results still aren’t great so far.

Despite the misses in early rounds, Mayock has been surprisingly good later in the draft. Maxx Crosby and Hunter Renfrow are both great gems from the 2019 class, with Crosby earning All-Pro honors in his third season and Renfrow becoming a nearly unstoppable separator in the slot. Foster Moreau has also been a good role player from that class. Nate Hobbs has been a great slot corner as a rookie this season, and Divine Deablo has played some good ball as a safety/linebacker hybrid.

How much of the early round debacles were Gruden over Mayock will long be debated (there’s already talk of Mayock preferring Devin White over Ferrell in 2019), but those misses and inconsistencies in free agency ultimately yielded the mixed bag we see today.

Did Mayock deserve the boot? Maybe not, considering how well he’s done later in the NFL Draft. But, if the Las Vegas Raiders are looking for the full reset after the issues with Gruden in 2021 and are rolling with the two as tied to the hip, then it makes sense. It will be interesting to see how the Raiders look to facilitate a front office reset despite making the postseason.

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