Delayed firing of Tom Telesco suggests he was cleared out for next coach

On Tuesday, the Raiders fired coach Antonio Pierce but not G.M. Tom Telesco. Two days into their coaching search, the Raiders fired Telesco.

Conventional wisdom in NFL circles is that Telesco was fired to clear a path for the next head coach to hire his own personnel executive.

Did Telesco deserve to be fired after one year? On one hand, the team’s quarterback plan for 2024 was subpar at best. Telesco added Gardner Minshew on a two-year, $25 million contract. Telesco apparently hoped to draft a quarterback in round one, with the 13th overall pick. He didn’t realize six quarterbacks would be taken in the first 12 selections.

On the other hand, Telesco drafted generational tight end Brock Bowers in that spot. Bowers had a record-setting rookie season, despite subpar quarterback play.

The no-patience move has prompted some to conclude that minority owner Tom Brady is running that show, and that he’s determined to get the absolute best candidate to turn the team around. Even if it means paying Telesco roughly $12 million for one year on the job.

Moving forward, how much money will owner Mark Davis commit to the effort to hire the best of the best? As one source noted, the stream of recent buyouts (from Jon Gruden to Josh McDaniels to Dave Ziegler to Antonio Pierce to Telesco) has made the Las Vegas Raiders into the new Cleveland Browns.

For that reason, some think the Raiders ultimately won’t pursue North Carolina coach Bill Belichick, given the $10 million buyout that doesn’t drop to $1 million until June 1, 2025. Unless Belichick or Brady (who got a sweetheart deal to buy his chunk of the team) will be paying it on their own, some think Davis would never agree to give up that kind of cash for the privilege of funding the buyout — and then paying him whatever he’d want in order to take the job.

If not Belichick, maybe it’s a Hail Mary play to wrest Mike Vrabel away from the Patriots. Or maybe the path is being cleared for someone else.

Regardless, something happened between Tuesday and Thursday. If it wasn’t good, old-fashioned dysfunction (and it might have been), it was highly strategic.