Rich Bisaccia Expected To Serve As Raiders Interim HC
With Jon Gruden out in Las Vegas, the Raiders are turning to their special teams coach. Rich Bisaccia is expected to serve as the Raiders interim head coach, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
[RELATED: Jon Gruden To Resign As Raiders Head Coach]
Following a college coaching career that spanned almost 20 years, Bisaccia joined the Buccaneers (alongside Gruden) as their special teams coordinator in 2002. He won a Super Bowl during his first season with the organization, and he later took on the role of assistant head coach in 2009 and 2010.
He spent a pair of seasons with the Chargers before a five-year stint as the Cowboys special teams coordinator and assistant head coach. Following Gruden’s hiring by the Raiders in 2018, Bisaccia joined the organization in the same roles.
The 61-year-old doesn’t have any NFL head coaching experience, but he’ll have some experienced assistant coaches that he can rely on. Adam Caplan points out on Twitter that offensive coordinator Greg Olson will be capable of running the offense moving forward. Offensive line coach Tom Cable can also provide some guidance, as he served as the Raiders head coach from 2008 to 2010.
Jon Gruden To Resign As Raiders Head Coach
Jon Gruden has notified his staff that he’ll be resigning as head coach of the Raiders, reports NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). Gruden also met with Mark Davis to inform the owner of his decision (per Pelissero).
The resignation comes in the wake of a weekend Wall Street Journal report that detailed Gruden’s use of a racial trope to describe NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith in old emails. Then tonight, the New York Times published a damning report that cited more emails showcasing the coach’s use of derogatory and offensive language. This included (and was not limited to) crude remarks about commissioner Roger Goodell, gay NFL players, female referees, and Washington cheerleaders. The emails in question were sent to former Washington executive Bruce Allen, and the league was only aware of the emails because of the previous investigation into the Washington Football Team.
That WSJ report was published on Saturday, and despite the negative reaction, Gruden was still allowed to coach during the Raiders loss to the Bears yesterday. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter), the NFL had forwarded the Raiders the emails that were cited in tonight’s NYT article, and the league was waiting for the organization to react. Per Jason La Canfora (on Twitter), the league was ready to step in if the Raiders didn’t punish their head coach.
It’s a remarkable and swift fall for Gruden, who was on the fourth year of a 10-year, $100MM contract he signed with the Raiders in 2018. Gruden wasn’t able to guide the Raiders to the postseason during his three full seasons with the organization, going 19-29 and peaking with an 8-8 season in 2020. The Raiders were 3-2 through the first chunk of the 2021 campaign.
“I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” Gruden said in a statement (via Vic Tafur of The Athletic on Twitter). “I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”
Gruden got his first head coaching gig in Oakland in 1998, and he was at the helm of two playoff teams during his four-year stint. He joined the Buccaneers via an iconic trade in 2002, and he won a Super Bowl during his first season with the organization. Gruden would ultimately spend seven seasons in Tampa Bay, and he turned to a high-profile TV gig after getting fired by the Bucs in 2009.
Derek Carr, Raiders Will Not Discuss Extension Until Offseason
Raiders QB Derek Carr has played well over the first four weeks of the 2021 campaign, throwing for nearly 350 yards per game and eight touchdowns against three interceptions while completing over 64% of his passes. Despite the success, Carr will not be discussing a contract extension during the season, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports.
In 2017, Carr inked a five-year, $125MM contract that made him the highest-paid player in the league at the time. Now, however, his $25MM AAV is the 14th-highest mark among quarterbacks, which is one of the reasons why his name continues to crop up in trade rumors. He is signed through the 2022 season.
As Schefter notes, Carr never intended to talk contract during the year, instead preferring to wait until the upcoming offseason. So it’s not as if this represents a change in thinking for Carr, who remains committed to staying with the Raiders for his entire career.
“I’d probably quit football if I had to play for somebody else,” Carr said this summer. “I am a Raider for my entire life. I’m going to root for one team for the rest of my life — it’s the Raiders. So, I just feel that so strong in my heart I don’t need a perfect situation … to make things right. I’d rather go down with the ship, you know what I’m saying, if I have to.”
The Raiders themselves are perfectly content to wait until the offseason as well. Las Vegas is right up against the salary cap at the moment, and while a Carr extension could reduce his 2021 cap number, the club will have more money to spend in 2022 as a result of the cash influx it has realized as a result of the move to Sin City. The salary cap is also expected to increase over the next several years, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to fit a new contract for Carr on the books, even if it will be considerably more valuable than his current one.
Carr’s comeback attempt against the Chargers last week fell a bit short, but the Raiders are still 3-1 and will get a chance to improve on that mark at home against the Bears this afternoon. If Carr can lead his club to a playoff berth in a loaded AFC West, he will have a particularly strong case for a contract in the $40MM/year ballpark.
Raiders Place CBs Trayvon Mullen, Damon Arnette On IR
Injuries are set to deplete the Raiders’ cornerback group. Las Vegas will be without Trayvon Mullen and Damon Arnette for at least the next three games, with both having been placed on IR Saturday.
A foot injury left Mullen sidelined this week, while Arnette is dealing with a groin issue. The Raiders ruled both out for Week 5. This stalls a nice start for Mullen. For Arnette, this represents another setback in an underwhelming start to his career.
A second-round pick in 2019, Mullen became part of the Raiders’ Clemson-heavy draft that year. Mullen reprised his role as a starter this season, being a first-unit player in new DC Gus Bradley‘s defense. Pro Football Focus graded Mullen as a top-25 corner through four games, with the third-year defender joining Casey Hayward and Nate Hobbs in an atypically strong Raiders coverage corps.
One of this Raider regime’s surprise first-round picks, Arnette has not seen the field much in his second season. The Ohio State product has played just 60 defensive snaps through four games. While the Raiders tried him as a starter for much of his 2020 season, Arnette suffered a thumb injury during his rookie training camp and then aggravated the issue later. He played nine games last season. Thus far in 2021, Arnette has joined fellow Jon Gruden–Mike Mayock first-rounder Clelin Ferrell as a seldom-used backup.
The Raiders also activated running back Jalen Richard and cornerback Keisean Nixon from IR. Set to begin his sixth season with the Raiders, Richard returned to practice last week. It will be interesting to see how the Raiders use Richard, given Kenyan Drake‘s presence, but the shifty reserve’s re-emergence should at least help for depth purposes. Peyton Barber is set to miss time with turf toe.
Raiders TE Derek Carrier Out For Season
The Raiders will see their tight end depth take a hit going forward. Derek Carrier will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
A blocking tight end who has been with the Raiders since signing with Oakland during Jon Gruden‘s first season back, Carrier is in his 10th NFL season. He sustained the injury in Las Vegas’ loss Monday night.
Although the Raiders still have dynamic receiving tight end Darren Waller and quality backup Foster Moreau, Carrier has been one of the better blockers at this position during his NFL tenure. He is under contract through the end of this season.
After stops in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington and with the L.A. Rams, the former UDFA signed with the Raiders in 2018. The Raiders initially cut him from their 53-man roster this year but brought him back after making IR moves. Carrier, 31, has played just 11% of Las Vegas’ offensive snaps this year but has been a special teams fixture, working on 88% of the team’s ST plays.
Raiders Shifting Alex Leatherwood To Guard?
The Raiders’ historic offensive pace slowed Monday night, and the team is looking into an interesting adjustment on its new-look offensive line.
First-round pick Alex Leatherwood worked at right guard Thursday, with former third-rounder Brandon Parker lining up at right tackle, The Athletic’s Tashan Reed tweets. Raiders OC Greg Olson deemed this new arrangement an attempt at getting the team’s best five O-linemen on the field together, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore (on Twitter).
While this might not be a long-term adjustment, Leatherwood sliding to guard is certainly notable. This year’s No. 17 overall pick worked as Alabama’s left tackle during his junior and senior seasons. However, Leatherwood’s first foray into first-string Crimson Tide duty came at guard — as a sophomore in 2018. Leatherwood has struggled at right tackle with Las Vegas. The Raiders’ latest surprise first-round pick not only grades as Pro Football Focus’ worst tackle but has produced the lowest pass-blocking grade of any rookie through four games in the site’s 16-season history, PFF’s Austin Gayle tweets.
Parker has not been a regular starter since his 2018 rookie season. He served as a spot starter over the ensuing two seasons, lining up with the Raiders’ first-stringers seven times from 2019-20. The team’s current issues may lead to another opportunity. The Raiders jettisoned their three most experienced O-linemen in March, trading away Gabe Jackson, Rodney Hudson and Trent Brown. That has led to some predictable early issues up front.
Las Vegas is currently down starting guards Richie Incognito and Denzelle Good. The former is on short-term IR, while the latter is out for the season. The team has second-year guard John Simpson and Jermaine Eluemunor at guard, though neither is faring particularly well. While Derek Carr has offered up a strong start, the Raiders rank 27th in rushing.
Raiders RB Peyton Barber To Miss Time
The Raiders are down a running back. Peyton Barber has been diagnosed with mild turf toe, reports NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter).
While the injury should sideline Barber for a “few weeks,” the veteran was fortunate to avoid a fracture. Barber is still “seeking opinions and having tests,” and it sounds like the organization will wait for those results before deciding on an IR stint.
Josh Jacobs has been limited to only two games and 29 touches this season, but Barber has done a fine job filling in (alongside free agent acquisition Kenyan Drake). Barber was a standout during the Raiders Week 3 win over the Dolphins, compiling 142 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown. However, the 27-year-old was limited to only one touch on Monday with Jacobs back in the lineup.
While Barber could be out for a bit, the team will soon be welcoming back another running back. The Raiders designated Jalen Richard for return last week.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/21
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted: DT Mike Pennel
Chicago Bears
- Waived: WR/KR Nsimba Webster
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: S Michael Thomas
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OL Hjalte Froholdt (from Texans’ practice squad)
Detroit Lions
- Signed: OL Ryan McCollum (from Texans’ practice squad)
Kansas City Chiefs
- Designated for Return: LB Willie Gay
- Placed on IR: DE Joshua Kaindoh
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: CB Brandon Facyson (from Chargers’ practice squad)
Minnesota Vikings
- Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: CB Harrison Hand
New York Jets
- Placed on IR: LB Hamsah Nasirildeen
- Promoted: OL Isaiah Williams
Washington Football Team
- Promoted: CB Danny Johnson, LB Jordan Kunaszyk
Raiders Designate Jalen Richard For Return
The Raiders have designated running back Jalen Richard for return. Meanwhile, fellow RB Josh Jacobs joined the team for practice on Thursday, a sign that he could take the field against the Chargers this week. 
Richard has spent five seasons with the Raiders, including a 2018 campaign where he finished with 866 yards from scrimmage. He hasn’t been able to match that production over the past two years, combining for only 729 yards from scrimmage in 29 games. Still, the 27-year-old was supposed to open the year as a primary backup to Jacobs. Instead, he’s been sidelined for the last couple of months with a foot injury.
Jacobs, meanwhile, has not been seen since the season opener against the Ravens. Instead of putting him on IR and ruling him out for three games, they’ve tasked Kenyan Drake and Peyton Barber with handling the workload. The two-time 1,000-yard rusher scored two touchdowns in that game with 40 all-purpose yards.
Drake has yet to flourish in their stead, but Barber delivered last week with 111 rushing yards to help top the Dolphins.
DT Gerald McCoy Suspended Six Games
Gerald McCoy is already out for the 2021 campaign, but that didn’t stop the NFL from handing him a suspension. The Raiders defensive tackle was slapped with a six-game ban today, reports ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez (via Twitter).
McCoy was banned for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. He’ll begin serving the suspension immediately.
“I love the game of football and have nothing but respect for the players, fans, and this league,” McCoy said in a statement (via Twitter). “I’ve given my all to this game and worked my entire career to compete, train, and rehabilitate at a high level with integrity. It is with great disappointment that I recently learned I tested positive for a banned substance – something I was prescribed to take to help with scar tissue and tendon strength from a previous injury. In no way would I ever intentionally take anything to help with performance or gain a competitive advantage. This was an honest mistake, but it’s something I take full responsibility for. I apologize to my family, the NFL, my teammates, and the fans and ask humbly for your forgiveness.”
McCoy was already sidelined for the entire 2021 campaign after suffering a season-ending injury during Week 1. However, it sounds like McCoy was punished for using a substance that helped him rehabilitate a previous injury…perhaps the torn quad that prevented him from taking the field for the Cowboys in 2020.
McCoy earned six Pro Bowl nods with the Buccaneers and performed as one of the NFL’s best defensive lineman in the 2010s. He spent 2019 with the Panthers, appeared in all 16 games, and registered five sacks, giving him 59.5 for his career.