Raiders owner Mark Davis takes blame for 1-8 start
After a fifth straight loss on Sunday, the Oakland Raiders sit at 1-8, and owner Mark Davis is accepting the blame.
"I always look in the mirror, and the buck stops with me," Davis told ESPN's Paul Gutierrez on Sunday. "Where this team is right now is my fault. We haven't been able to build a 22-man roster. We haven't been able to give this team a chance to win because the reconstruction failed. We failed from 2014 on to have a roster right now."
Davis was referring to a long-term strategy that began in 2012, in which the team would acquire three players from the draft and two in free agency every year who would serve as core pieces for the future. However, the Raiders were unable to complete the plan in several of the ensuing years.
The team's owner also touched on the handling of star pass-rusher Khalil Mack, who was traded to the Chicago Bears prior to the regular season. Davis said the team approached Mack's agent, Joel Segal, during the combine regarding an extension that would have made the pass-rusher the NFL's highest-paid defensive player. According to Davis, the offer was countered with one that "was not going to happen, was not doable for us."
"From that point on, (Mack) would not talk to anyone in our organization," Davis said. "Not (general manager) Reggie (McKenzie), not Jon, not anybody.
"(Coach) Jon (Gruden) wanted him. Everybody thinks that Jon's the one who wanted to get rid of him. Jon wanted him badly. Why wouldn't you want this guy? Reggie wanted him badly. And I wanted him badly, too. But, if in fact we were going to give the type of money that we were going to give to him, and we had Derek (Carr) on that type of a (contract), how were we going to go ahead and build this football team, with all the holes that we had?"
Davis' ultimate disappointment came when discussing the fans. He hoped to leave the Bay Area with a Super Bowl before the team departs to Las Vegas.
"I feel so bad for the fans because they want to win," Davis said. "And believe me, there's nothing more I want than to win and there's nothing more Jon wants to do than win. Reggie wants to win. Everybody in this organization is built around winning. We don't have the tools right now to do it and it's nobody's fault but our own and when it comes down to it, it's my fault."