Sources - Raiders firings of Josh McDaniels, GM to cost nearly $85M - ESPN

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis demonstrated again this week that he will not let money influence how he operates his franchise.

The firings of head coach Josh McDaniels, general manager Dave Ziegler and some of the coaching staff will cost Davis approximately $85 million, league sources told ESPN.

Some of those costs will be defrayed by offsets and mitigation, but the firings were, as one source described to ESPN, «an expensive move nonetheless.»

The costs didn't stop there for the Raiders, who also reworked the contracts of interim head coach Antonio Pierce and interim GM Champ Kelly.

Some sources around the organization say Davis isn't worried about money — he's worried about putting together a winning organization, which is what led to this week's shakeup, costs be damned.

«Unfortunately, I had great hopes for Josh and Dave,» Davis told ESPN's Paul Gutierrez on Wednesday. «It just seemed we were going in the wrong direction. So, with the trade deadline, I just felt it was time to make a change, time to make a move.»

Some sources had predicted the firings were coming. One source close to the team texted ESPN after the Raiders lost 30-12 to the Bears and undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent on Oct. 22: «Just heard if they lost on MNF bad [against the Lions], McDaniels is [gone].»

Nobody would validate that source's text in the week leading up to the Raiders' loss on «Monday Night Football,» but the thinking was clear enough: Davis' patience was wearing thin.

After Las Vegas lost 26-14 to the Lions on Monday night, Davis personally apologized to a group of Raiders players for wasting their season, league sources told ESPN, and confided in a small group of people within the organization that it was time to make a