Loser: Jon Gruden
Jon Gruden came to Oakland to turn the team around. They were one of the most disappointing teams in football last season so they went out and pulled some strings to bring in Gruden. They needed to move on from Jack Del Rio so they went out and brought Gruden back from the booth.
Since getting the job, he has made some bold statements. One of them is that he won’t take the Raiders money if he doesn’t “get it done.” Well, to be clear, trading one of the best defensive players in football isn’t the best way to “get it done” so he isn’t off to a great start.
This is after his own assessment of the Raiders defense was that they weren’t that good with Khalil Mack on the field, so it leaves the question of what does he expect from them without Mack? He wants the Raiders to be a better defensive team in 2018, but this trade does nothing to help them be that better team he is striving for.
Beyond the obvious that comes from trading one of the best players in football, there is the added pressure for Gruden to explain the trade to his locker room. He has to get on that soon. After seeing Bruce Irvin’s NSFW tweet and Derek Carr’s reaction, Gruden is in danger of losing his locker room because of this trade.
He has nothing to show that his system works, he hasn’t coached in ages, so it will be tough to make the Raiders players buy in to what he is saying, but he has to make it happen otherwise he is in danger of a very poor first season in Oakland.