Raiders fire GM Tom Telesco after lone season in Las Vegas (original) (raw)

The Las Vegas Raiders have fired general manager Tom Telesco after only one season, the team announced Thursday. This signals sweeping changes for the franchise after the team fired coach Antonio Pierce two days after the end of the 2024 regular season, in which the team went 4-13 for a last-place AFC West finish.

Telesco appeared safe Tuesday when the Raiders fired Pierce — a decision the general manager was not involved in. But the more that owner Mark Davis, minority owner Tom Brady and other decision-makers talked during meetings in Las Vegas on Wednesday, league sources said, they decided it was time to hire a new GM as well. After further deliberation overnight, Davis made the move Thursday. Now, the Raiders will conduct both a GM and head coach search in the same offseason for the third time since 2022.

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— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 9, 2025

The Telesco firing comes as a surprise considering he largely had a successful first season on the job. He put together a strong 2024 draft class that produced an All-Pro in tight end Brock Bowers and three additional starters in guard Jackson Powers-Johnson, offensive tackle DJ Glaze and cornerback Decamerion Richardson. He also landed stud free-agent defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who played well through five games before suffering a season-ending Jones fracture.

Telesco’s lone major blemish was his misstep at quarterback. He signed Gardner Minshew II to a two-year, $25 million contract to compete with incumbent starter Aidan O’Connell, and wasn’t able to navigate the draft to land a signal caller. Minshew was terrible in 10 appearances and got benched multiple times before suffering a broken collarbone. O’Connell was better, but still below average.

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Parting ways with Telesco, however, seems to be more about the Raiders having the opportunity to start with a clean slate. Las Vegas’ next GM and head coach will be on the same timeline from the jump.

Before his one season with the Raiders, Telesco had been the Chargers’ general manager since 2013. Los Angeles was 84-92 over that span.

Telesco’s hiring last year was a surprise as well, as many in the organization thought Davis would promote both interim coach Pierce and interim general manager Champ Kelly together. General managers rarely get hired right after they get fired, and Telesco’s Chargers team had just lost to the Raiders 63-21 on Dec. 14, 2023, and was fired by Los Angeles the next day.

But as the coaching interviews went on, Davis decided he needed a GM with more experience to team with a rookie head coach in Pierce. And after Pierce was told he would indeed get the promotion, he actually sat in on Telesco’s interview.

The owner had previously expressed that he didn’t like the idea of pairing a first-time GM with a first-time head coach. Bringing in Telesco, who’d been a GM for 11 seasons with the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers, remedied that issue.

Still, Pierce and Telesco had no previous relationship with one another. Although they got along, there was a clear difference in their sense of urgency, most notably at the quarterback position. Pierce said repeatedly that he wanted to avoid a “Band-Aid” at the quarterback position, but then Telesco signed the ultimate “Band-Aid” quarterback in Minshew.

Then, in the draft, Pierce wanted to be aggressive to land a quarterback. While none of the teams picking in the top three selections wanted to trade down, the Raiders could’ve moved up to take J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix. Instead, they stayed put and took Bowers. Bowers had a historic rookie season, but the Raiders’ lack of an answer at quarterback remained glaring and was one of the biggest reasons they finished 4-13.

Moving forward, the hope for the Raiders is they’ll find a GM and head coach pairing that will benefit from stronger alignment.

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(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)