Three years without making the playoffs is usually not something a head coach survives. Jon Gruden is in a different situation with the Raiders, as Mark Davis had long been enamored by the head coach turned ESPN personality. So much so that Davis lured Gruden out of the broadcast booth with a reported 10-year, $100 million deal.
The question though is how long of a leash does that give Gruden to turn this team around and get them back to winning football? Highly doubtful it’s anywhere near ten years. In fact, some oddsmakers are putting that number at four.
The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag put out their top five odds to be the next head coach fired and Gruden landed at number four.
Mike McCarthy is the favorite to be the first NFL coach fired pic.twitter.com/oCqz2AOu7E
— BetOnline.ag (@betonline_ag) May 27, 2021
There are many who will naturally be skeptical. The argument being that Mark Davis wouldn’t want to eat the cost of the final six years of Gruden’s deal. The problem is that you don’t know what Davis would have to eat, because you don’t actually know how Gruden’s contract is structured.
Gruden is quoted as saying in an interview with USA Today that if he can’t get the job done, he won’t take the Raiders’ money. Some took that to mean he would give money back if the team doesn’t win. But it could simply mean that he would not seek money above and beyond the years he is head coach.
For example, one early report from Pro Football Talk when Gruden first signed his deal said indications he received were that Gruden’s deal was backloaded, with the numbers jumping up in the final five years. Due in part to the lower taxes in Nevada than in California.
Combined, this could suggest Gruden’s deal is more of a five-years-and-we’ll-see type of situation. And it that’s the case, hypothetically, Davis would likely only be on the hook for one year of Gruden’s deal should he let go of him in year four.
Mind you, this is just reading tea leaves here, but the point is there is a decent chance that should the Raiders be unable to make the jump this year and thus look to move on from Gruden, it may not mean Davis and the Raiders are eating a boat load of money. And the odds are reflecting that.