Mark Davis has preached patience. He doesn’t want the Raiders to be a team that is constantly changing head coaches and regimes. That’s why he hired Jon Gruden to a 10-year contract as he’d hoped to install some stability.
While the Gruden hire didn’t work out for multiple reasons, Davis is hoping that McDaniels will be the answer at head coach. But through 20 games, the Raiders are 7-20 under McDaniels with a point differential of -55. And that’s after he took over a playoff team from the 2021 season.
So that begs the question, will the Raiders consider firing McDaniels after the 2023 season? And if they do, would that be the smart move for the Raiders?
In a recent article by ESPN’s NFL insiders, they discussed the possibility of the Raiders firing McDaniels after the season. According to Dan Graziano, he believes it is possible given what the team and roster look like after 20 games.
The franchise is in perceptibly worse shape than it was when McDaniels got there. Jimmy Garoppolo is already hurt. Davante Adams is making noise about being unhappy.
It just feels like every move that has been made since the Adams trade has made the roster worse, and if they finish with one of the league’s worst records (which I believe to be extremely possible), how long will Mark Davis be willing to live with his mistake?
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Raiders gave McDaniels at least one more year to show what he is capable of as a head coach. But if the Raiders have another 6-11 (or worse) season in 2023, there certainly will be a lot of talk about the Raiders moving on from McDaniels after just two seasons.