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Kurtenbach: Jon Gruden is confirming Raiders fans’ worst fears about his second tenure in charge
J
ALAMEDA — What did you expect Jon Gruden to do?
Did you expect him — fully empowered through a 10-year, $100 million deal — to be passive?
Did you expect him to play a drawn-out game of contract chicken with a defensive player who was looking for quarterback money?
Did you expect him to merely accept the roster he inherited from a franchise that has one winning season in the last 15 years?
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Because if you thought any of those things were possible, you forgot who we’re dealing with here.
This is Jon Gruden — the ultimate “football guy”. An alpha-male. Someone who abhors nonsense… unless he’s the one delivering it. He’s a micromanager, an ideologue, and a person who can charm you into drinking mediocre beer.
This is not a man who shies away from control.
And this weekend, he made it abundantly clear to the world that has full, unchecked control of the Oakland Raiders.
Deep down, we always knew this was the case. Gruden’s control wasn’t disputed (except by him), but until this weekend, it wasn’t fully exerted.
I think it’s fair to say that trading away the Raiders’ best player, Khalil Mack — despite the fact that he is in his prime and under team control for at least two more years — is a bold proclamation of one’s authority.
And when that proclamation was made, it confirmed many of the worst fears about his second turn in charge.
Jon Gruden
(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Ultimately, trading Mack is a decision that will ultimately define Gruden’s second stint in charge of the Raiders.
Though, again, it should shock no one that Gruden has decided he will be the author of his own legacy.
The Raiders received two first-round picks in exchange for Mack, giving Gruden four first-round picks over the next two drafts. He made things clear this weekend: he’s going to build the Raiders in his image.
And if history is any judge, that should make Raiders fans extremely nervous. After all, this is a guy who traded a third-round pick for Martavis Bryant in April, only to cut him this past weekend and then say that make the trade all over again.
Yes, while Gruden might have been away from the sideline for nearly a decade, but the book on him hasn’t changed: you should let him cook the meal, but don’t let him buy the groceries.
Frankly, that reputation is so well-known and deserved, there isn’t a competent owner in the NFL who would give Gruden full control of a team. I guess that’s why he’s back in Oakland.
You may recall that Gruden wanted more money and personnel power his first time around in Oakland, leading to the Raiders trading him to the Buccaneers in 2002. Then, soon after winning the Super Bowl in his first year in Tampa Bay, Gruden was given the full personnel control he wanted — it proved to be his downfall, as he was fired after the 2008 season.
Well, Gruden is in full control of the shopping list once again — no matter what he says.
No, it didn’t take long for Gruden to get back to his old tricks.
(Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
In Gruden’s first stint in Oakland, he became an expert at privatizing praise and socializing blame. It’s a big reason Al Davis traded him.
In Tampa Bay, same thing: He didn’t win a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s team — that was his team. And those terrible teams that he assembled in the years that followed? Well, that was a collective effort.
He tried to pass off the same nonsense on Sunday, particularly when it came to his relationship with holdover general manager (in title only) Reggie McKenzie.
“They’re trying to divide us, people are trying to divide us – ‘I wanted him gone, he wanted him here’ – we made a decision as an organization,” Gruden said. “Mark Davis, Tom Delaney, we all got the information and we made a decision together.”
Forget all about how McKenzie was set to sign Mack to a long-term extension before Gruden was hired. Pay no attention to the fact that Gruden hosted a Red Wedding for former McKenzie draft picks — more than half of McKenzie’s 2017 draft class and his last three second-round picks are no longer with the team — over the weekend. And please, ignore the contradicting statements McKenzie and Gruden made to the media this weekend which showed a clear sign of a disconnect in rationale.
No, Gruden made a bold, controversial decision this weekend, so therefore it’s everyone’s decision. And that inexplicable second-round pick the Raiders gave to Chicago alongside Mack? Well, you’ll have to McKenzie or one of the other guys about that. Gruden has no idea about that kind of stuff.
Unless this all works out, of course. In that case, Jon knows all about it.
Jon Gruden talks to the crowd during a fan appreciation event at Ricky’s Sports Theatre and Grill in San Leandro. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
Make no mistake: Khalil Mack is not on the Raiders because of Gruden. It was his call, 100 percent.
Here’s the crazy thing: this trade is justifiable, if we accept the fact that Gruden was never going to give Mack a fair-market contract extension after Aaron Donald re-set the market Friday with a six-year, $135 million deal with $87 million in guaranteed money.
We can debate the prudence of Gruden not wanting to pay Mack, but if that’s the accepted baseline, the Raiders came out with a pretty good haul Saturday (even if McKenzie gave away a second-round pick in the trade without, as Gruden implied, telling anyone).
But now comes the hard part — justifying that two in the bush is better than one in the hand.
That’s a job that Gruden can’t pretend he doesn’t have.
