Dennis Allen would need a Buccaneers-like meltdown to get fired

The Oakland Raiders have started the season 0-2 after losses to the New York Jets and Houston Texans, and Reggie McKenzie’s interesting way to rebuild the team has backfired. Instead of trying to add difference-makers and top talent, McKenzie spent some of the Raiders copious cap space on veteran signings across-the-board. While I was a fan of several of these moves on paper, the issue is that guys like Justin Tuck and LaMarr Woodley are meant to help contending teams fill holes; not serve as building blocks for a team that is a way’s off from contending. The Raiders have a likely top-notch pass rusher in Khalil Mack now and a likely franchise QB in Derek Carr after an amazing, dream draft, but they still don’t have enough difference-makers to field a legit winning team.

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Raiders head coach Dennis Allen was the subject of a high volume of rumors last season, but owner Mark Davis wisely decided to give him another chance instead of setting a bad precedent for future coaches by firing him.

The Allen rumblings are back, but sources close to Davis tell the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that it’s “too early” for the Raiders to think about firing Allen and that it would take a “Tampa Bay Buccaneers-type meltdown” for the Raiders to give him the axe.

I don’t think Allen is the Raiders problem at all, but I do think Reggie McKenzie is a massive problem at GM. But the only way to get rid of him is to hire a GM who has the ability to hire his own coach, meaning that Allen has to be a sacrificial lamb in order for the Raiders to get a competent decision-maker leading the front office; one who understands how to rebuild a team. I’m probably being too harsh on McKenzie because it’s still just two games into the season, but the Raiders will have to make changes if they have another awful season.