An offseason for the ages has the Oakland Raiders positioned to potentially be a long-term contender after a mostly irrelevant second stint in the Bay Area.
Their depth chart now compares to the Broncos’ or Chiefs’, and various analysts will slot the Raiders as their preseason AFC West champion. On the surface, it’s as good a time to be a Raider fan since Bill Callahan was using Jon Gruden’s offense to beat teams not coached by Jon Gruden.
But have the Raiders just built a budding future contender for another city to enjoy?
That looming scenario has to now be taken as a serious possibility, given the city of Oakland’s lack of movement on a new stadium and Mark Davis’ open flirtations with Las Vegas to go along with the franchise standing second in line behind the Chargers to move to Los Angeles.
The numerous hired guns signed this offseason signed will join the Derek Carr-Khalil Mack-Amari Cooper foundation in command of a suddenly competent on-field operation. But the organization’s boardroom tactics may create an ugly scene for a franchise that’s been held back by its off-the-field decisions. That is going to overshadow the season to some degree, even if the Raiders clinch the right to play January football again. And that will be weird, considering the circumstances of the other teams who departed their respective cities.
Only a few fan bases have dealt with a team deserting them since the NFL became the country’s premier sport. We’re not going to count the Portsmouth Spartans’ 1934 metamorphosis into the Detroit Lions, or the Boston Braves’ subsequent emergence as the Washington Redskins here; the NFL was essentially in its B.C. era and occupied a fraction of its current place in the public consciousness.
The Raiders, Colts, Cardinals, Rams, Browns and Titans have done this to their respective fan bases in the past few decades, with the Raiders and Rams doing so twice in the Super Bowl era (the Cardinals also relocated twice, but their Chicago-to-St. Louis venture came in 1959, and the Windy City still had the more revered Bears on whom to fall back).
Three of the most brutal defections — the Colts, Browns and Oilers, respectively — each resulted in a new franchise spawning. Although, it’s worth noting two of the replacements — Browns 2.0 and the Texans — haven’t exactly filled the void. Baltimore’s reboot worked out OK, cementing Cleveland as the champion of scorned fan bases.
What happens with the Raiders will be an interesting case.
They already relocated twice in the past 35 years and hoped to do so again before the Rams outflanked their plan. Yet, Raider fans can be categorized with the Browns’ diehards for their passion in spite of repeat letdowns. But Oakland’s political leaders have not reacted the same way San Diego’s have in a belated attempt to keep the Chargers, and San Diego isn’t exactly known for the spirited home environment that Oakland is.
But the Oakland power brokers haven’t moved much on putting public money toward a new stadium. If the Raiders move in 2017, that apathy and O.co Coliseum now being 50 years old won’t exactly make Oakland an attractive candidate to acquire another franchise, especially when the Bay Area houses another team.
However, will another move represent a massive divorce, or has this fan base been desensitized to such drama to a certain extent?
Howie Long Los Angeles Raiders circa 1985
The initial controversial move in 1982 to L.A., 1995’s trek back and last year’s ongoing dalliance with SoCal have made the Raiders at the very least the AFC’s least stable franchise. (The Rams probably own the NFL’s title here, having moved three times.) How much of the Northern California-based Raider fan population would disown the team if it moved to Vegas or Los Angeles since a similar maneuver has already occurred? It would surely cause significant heartache among a legion of supporters that has suffered through plenty over the past decade-plus, but would the fury rival Baltimore or Cleveland’s disgust?
Or, in the NFL Sunday Ticket/fantasy football era where far-flung fans can see their team every week, would an increased number of loyalists stay on the bandwagon?
The coaches and players are caught in a strange spot, because this Raiders team may finish as the best team of the modern-era franchises that eventually relocated. Considering the resources Reggie McKenzie and Co. put into bringing in top-flight talent this offseason, this distinction would go to either the 2016 Raiders or the franchise’s 1981 edition, which slunk to 7-9 after winning Super Bowl XV in the season prior.
Cleveland watched the Bernie Kosar era close without a Super Bowl berth and observed the Bill Belichick-led operation clearly affected by Art Modell’s plans go 5-11 in 1995 despite having won a playoff game the previous year. Houston’s Warren Moon-driven stretch produced an astounding seven straight playoff berths from 1987-93 and no AFC championship games. The Oilers, though, were midway through a rebuild by the time they moved on the heels of an 8-8 slate in 1996.
The Colts hadn’t made the playoffs in six years when Bob Irsay decided to make the infamous overnight drive, and the Cardinals and Rams were floundering upon their decisions to leave (it’s not a classic football town, but St. Louis has sure suffered).
Featuring a much better roster than the one that went 7-9 last year, the Raiders could be the first team to bolt after a winning season.
It’s a populist stand by a city watching another attempt to seduce its team with a $1.4 billion stadium proposal. Perhaps Oakland’s decision-makers are banking on Vegas’ reputation scuttling Davis’ hopes. Only with Oakland and the Raiders at an impasse, the league’s owners could be more inclined to approve a move — one contingent on $750 million in public money coming from a hotel tax.
“We have a good, young team in place. We have a bright future on the field. We want to be able to drop our anchor, become a valued part of the community and be able to say, ‘This our home,'” Davis told the Los Angeles Daily News.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity. A fresh start in a growing market that’s easily accessible to areas of the country that are hot-beds for Raider Nation. … And when people think about Las Vegas, it won’t just be for entertainment and vacations and casinos. They’ll think about the Raiders. The Las Vegas Raiders. That’s a game-changer in so many ways.”
Jack Del Rio’s squad rests in position to make this latest rebuild count, but having to do so under such ominous circumstances stands to have at least some effect on its season.
It would be a shame for Raiders fans to have to see the team leave again after having watched the front office construct a strong roster over the past few years.
From a historical perspective, though, what transpires in the next several months will be fascinating given the Raiders’ potential rise amid this tumultuous backdrop.
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