It's a shame that the Raiders started winning the moment everyone stopped paying attention. Despite pulling off back-to-back wins over the Jaguars and Saints, there doesn't seem to be much change in how NFL Insiders view the fate of Antonio Pierce.
Mike Vrabel could be a real possibility for the Raiders according to Pete Schrager
"A team that I would keep an eye on, and an owner that I would keep an eye on, having not made a decision on their current head coach who's won two straight games," Schrager said. "But Las Vegas makes a lot of sense if they were to move on from Antonio Pierce. Of course, Tom Brady is the new minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Vrable has a very good relationship with Brady. And Vrabel is a possibility for that gig as they start a new chapter, if they opt to move on from Antonio Pierce."
One one hand, there's enough winking and nudging in this soundbite to think there's some truth to it. Schrager is an NFL Network employee, after all. If someone was going to be in on this sort of rumor, it's an NFL Network employee. On the other, it's the perfect late-December "insider report" – he hedges just enough to keep his reputation intact if the Raiders don't end up doing anything close to hiring Vrabel. It's at least a little telling that when Schrager tosses to Pelissero, the latter just responds with "yeah, everyone's going to think about hiring Vrabel."
So, as it turns out, no one knows anything yet. But since when has that stopped NFL Insiders?! Any report that links Vrabel and the Raiders is fine by me, regardless of how strong it may (or may not) actually be.
