Las Vegas Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler was adamant recently that they’re sticking to their approach despite glaring issues and team struggles.
Dave Ziegler and the future of the Las Vegas Raiders hangs in the balance in 2023
In a recent interview, Ziegler reemphasized a similar message from earlier in the season. If you recall, the GM backed up his friend and head coach Josh McDaniels amid struggles and blown leads. In fact, Raider Nation collectively lost it when he mentioned that he believed that he was “impressed” with the job that the coaching staff was doing. Clearly, he was just towing the company line. Was he supposed to throw McDaniels and the staff under the bus? Of course not. Regardless, Raiders fans weren’t having it. Well, with the season now over for the Silver and Black, Ziegler echoed an identical tone while talking about the long-term future of the team.
“We’re going to stick with the approach, and stick with our core beliefs, and again, when those things get tested, you have to stand by them at that point, and that’s what we decided to do.”
Will Year 2 be more of the same?
Raiders fans probably aren’t going to be too thrilled with Ziegler’s notion of him sticking to his guns. Many question the future of this team, especially after the way Derek Carr’s exit has been handled by the organization. More so, many look back at the miscalculations with regards to the roster. There were many deficiencies that simply weren’t addressed, and that rightfully worries fans.
Nevertheless, Ziegler believes in the decisions that were made, right or wrong. Heading into his second offseason as general manager, to say fans are uneasy is putting it nicely.
“It was a really important time for us I think in the long range, in the big picture of us building this franchise into the sustained winner that we want to, because we looked at those things, and we critically looked at them, and we questioned them, and at the end of the day, we felt like what we stand on and what we believe in, we’re going to stick with it.”
What are your thoughts, Raider Nation? How would you assess Dave Ziegler in his first year with the Raiders?
*Top Photo: Sports Illustrated/Raider Maven
Not only do I have no faith in McDaniels, but I’m not hopeful about Ziegler by association. The sooner they are gone, the sooner we have another chance to move forward, albeit without any qb.
“We’re sticking to the approach,” he says. Is that the approach that leaves you QB under pressure on almost every play because you didn’t bother to strengthen the offensive line? Is that the approach that does next to nothing to strengthen the defense, even when decent free agents were available and affordable? Is that the approach that signs players to 1 year contracts so they can go elsewhere next year when they do well with the Raiders?