IRVING, Texas – It’s no surprise that owner Mark Davis isn’t happy with his team right now. The Las Vegas Raiders are on a nine-game losing streak and have the worst record in the NFL at 2-11. When asked about head coach Antonio Pierce at NFL league meetings on Wednesday, Davis declined to commit to bringing him back in 2025.

“I am of course very disappointed. I want to see progress,” Davis said. “There are no excuses. We have injuries and all these things, but your team has to figure out how to work around those issues. The bottom line…is that it depends on me. And if anyone is going to point the finger, it’s going to be at me because, again, I’m the one who hires the people who make the decisions on the field.

“There is a misconception that I make a lot of decisions on the football field, but I keep telling you that I don’t. I delegate to the people I hire. I give them goals. And then I get out of the way and let them try it and let the results speak for themselves. Of course we’re not happy at this point, but you have to get through the season and then we’ll reassess. At the moment I am not in a position to assess the future.”

I asked #Raiders Owner Mark Davis assesses the state of play with HC Antonio Pierce. He’s clearly not happy with the 2-11 record and wants to see progress in the last four games. He said he won’t be able to assess the future until the offseason arrives.

– Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) December 11, 2024

The Raiders still have four games left and Davis reiterated that he won’t make a decision on Pierce until the season ends in January.

“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Davis said. “We’re still playing through the season.”

Davis’ tone has changed significantly in recent months. On October 15, he chastised Pierce for being “young as a head coach” and said, “We’ll be fine.” Nearly two months later, Davis didn’t give Pierce much of a vote of confidence. However, he expressed that he was pleased that the team’s commitment had not weakened in the face of mounting losses.

“The one thing this team did is they fought hard,” Davis said. “They fight hard in every game. That’s something you don’t always find when things aren’t as good as you want them to be. That’s positive, the way this team responded.”

As for general manager Tom Telesco, Davis made it clear that he will be evaluated separately from Pierce. While both were hired this offseason, Pierce served as interim head coach for nine games in 2023. This is Telesco’s first year in charge, but Pierce has a 22-game sample size.

“They didn’t come as a team,” Davis said. “They are individuals.”

Telesco’s first free agency course did not go well. Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins was the headliner but played only five games before suffering a Jones fracture, and quarterback Gardner Minshew II was terrible in ten games before suffering a season-ending broken collarbone.

But Telesco has put together a strong 2024 draft class. It has already produced four starters: star tight end Brock Bowers, center Jackson Powers-Johnson, right tackle DJ Glaze and cornerback Decamerion Richardson. And while his 11-year tenure as GM of the Los Angeles Chargers has had its ups and downs, he still has a more proven track record than Pierce.

Davis won’t be making any changes to the front office or coaching staff during the season, but this offseason should be eventful for the Raiders. On Wednesday, he gained several new partners to help him address that issue when NFL owners voted to approve the Raiders’ sale of 15 percent of the franchise to Silver Lake co-CEO and Endeavor chairman Egon Durban. and Michael, founder and chairman of Discovery Land Company, to approve Meldman, each acquiring a 7.5 percent stake.

The transaction marks the second time this year that Davis has sold a portion of Raiders stock. In October, he sold about 10.5 percent of the franchise to former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, Knighthead Capital Management co-founder Tom Wagner and former NFL defensive lineman Richard Seymour. Brady and Wagner acquired shares worth about 5 percent each, while Seymour acquired a 0.5 percent stake.

Davis is still the controlling owner of the Raiders, meaning he is the one who has decision-making authority. Davis has owned the team since the death of his father Al in 2011.

“It added value to the organization,” Davis said of the collective impact of the transactions. “Mr. Egon and Mr. Meldman are fantastic business people, as is Mr. Tom Wagner. They will help us tremendously on the business side of the organization. And of course Mr. Brady will support us football-wise. At this point we have the infrastructure we need to move forward with some young, energetic people who are very brilliant and smart people.”

Brady is expected to help the football operations department, but his role will be somewhat limited by his duties as a Fox television analyst. Davis said they communicate often, but for Brady “there’s no day-to-day role or anything that’s been defined.”

“When Tom was hired (as an analyst), I promised Fox that we wouldn’t get in the way of Tom’s job and that he would be one of the best announcers in the game,” Davis said. “Anything he does with the Raiders will be in the future, as far as that goes. Of course, I talk to him all the time and his input is greatly appreciated and will always be appreciated. We will see how his role evolves over time.”

Davis said he expects to benefit from Brady’s competitiveness and experience. But it sounds like there are no plans for Brady to take on a formal role until his contract with Fox expires after the 2033 season.

“I want Tom to have a big voice — no question,” Davis said. “It’s part of building the infrastructure of the organization … a football player on the side of the organization who is not a coach or general manager. He is someone who can see the bigger picture. I believe that one day Tom will be the person who can do that.”

Nonetheless, Brady will almost certainly be consulted when Davis decides the future of Pierce and Telesco this offseason. And Davis has already stated that Brady will help the team find a long-term answer at quarterback. The Raiders currently have a chance to go No. 1 in the 2025 NFL Draft, so they could be in a position to land one in the offseason.

“You’re always looking for a quarterback,” Davis said. “There’s no question about that.”

Minshew will likely be released this offseason, and Aidan O’Connell likely hasn’t shown enough to be the starting quarterback. Still, Davis said he hasn’t given a mandate to draft a quarterback in the first round.

“You would have to talk to Tom Telesco,” Davis said. “And of course Tom Brady will have something to say about it at some point.”

It was noticeable that Davis mentioned Telesco and Brady, but not Pierce. Davis will ultimately decide who the Raiders’ coach and general manager will be in 2025, but he intends to largely delegate football responsibilities from there.

“I always have input,” Davis said. “I play devil’s advocate because I just want people to think about it from all different angles, but I let them make the decision. …Sometimes I’m really happy about it, and there are times when I’m not, but I think it’s the best way for me to run my business. It’s about bringing in the right people who can actually make those decisions.

“Now I have people at the top who will also be in this position and who I know can help us.”

Required reading

• NFL owners approve 15 percent sale of Raiders
• Raiders “still believe” after ninth straight loss and another serious injury
• The pressure shifts to Antonio Pierce as the Raiders endure another losing season

(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)