Mike Holmgren: Face of the Raiders? (It could happen)
 

Let me start this off by saying I was absolutely shocked to hear the possibility of this happening.

However, according to John Clayton and Bill Williamson of ESPN, the Raiders are in serious negotiations to bring Mike Holmgren into the organization in a role that isn't publicly defined at this time. What is clear, however, is that owner Mark Davis is not targeting the former Packer and Seahawk head coach as a consultant. This will not be a small role for the man with the great 'stache, Holmgren would become the face of the franchise to fill the void left by the deceased owner Al Davis.

A basic idea of Holmgren's role with the club would be that Holmgren would take charge of the intersection between the business side and the football side. Reggie McKenzie would still make the personnel decisions and it's possible the Raiders would bring on another body to manage the business decisions such as getting a new stadium, but Holmgren would have his hand in both areas.

This could be huge for the Raiders and the NFL as a whole. The Raiders have been floundering (very publicly) since their loss to the Buccaneers in February of 2003. By aggressively working to get the Silver and Black house in order since the death of his father, Mark Davis is clearly making it a priority to bring the organization of the Raiders franchise in line with the rest of the NFL.

I just really want to know what RM has to say about this.

Yeah, I think that will be very interesting as well. I can't see that this will be the end of Reggie McKenzie as GM after 1 year in the job. However, this does mean Holmgren would at least have some say in his job. That's probably a good thing considering this is McKenzie's first job as a GM. I would imagine it comes down to McKenzie doing all the hard work and the daily jobs of GM and Holmgren would then have veto power.

How well did Holmgren to for that Browns program?

They were a pretty competitive team last year. Really Young.

The Browns are actually in a much better spot because of what Holmgren did for them. He also did a good job building up the Seahawks while he was with them until Matt Hasselbeck broke down.

I respectfully disagree. It was when Holmgren was stripped of the GM label that the Seahawks finally started moving forward. He was very mediocre as a personnel man in Seattle. I would never give him any control over any phase of my team. I think the game has passed him by and Oakland will not benefit from having him on board.

Holmgren knows the WCO and only the WCO. He does not know jack about defense. He will make some great draft choices offensively, but his approach is very tunnel-visioned. The NFL is evolving rapidly and his mindset is still with the '96 Packers.

The best part of Holmgren in Cleveland was that he brought Heckert with him. Also, I was under the impression that Seattle stripped him of "GM" duties following the 2004 season.

Mike Holmgren will talk the Raiders into trading a pick for Brandon Weeden.

This is a good point. I had forgotten about Seattle stripping him of his GM duties.

Maybe he could trade for Matt Cassel.

That would be the only way to make that pick of any of use. I still can't believe Cleveland picked CJ...I mean Ole Man Weeden that early.

Coming to an Oakland near you.

Even if he did get stripped of GM duties at end of his tenure, the team that got to the superbowl in Seattle were all his players.

And I repeat, last year's cleveland team was very competitive in most of their games and they got a nice little young nucleus especially on defense.

I gotta say...I wouldn't want him based solely on what he did with his first round last year.

-I hate me some running backs before round four.

-I REALLY hate me some trading up to draft a RB in the top 5.

-I hate me some 28-year old rookies in the first round.

When think about the talent that was available at those picks, I get angry. He broke pretty much every rule I have about good drafting. Good thing I'm not a Browns fan.

Round 4 for backs, really?

Build a good line with those picks. They make 4th and 5th round backs look like 1st round backs.

Besides, running backs should only be on your team for four years or so. You don't want to pay them when contract time comes.

Meh. I wouldn't be that excited if I was a Raiders fan. I mean, are the pieces really in place for the Browns to go the distance in the near future? And he was stripped of his GM duties in Seattle after a while. He was a great coach every single place he's been, but as a behind the scenes guy, I wouldn't be too thrilled. The entire Raiders organization is a joke and I don't see Mike Holmgren saving the day.

Worse GM than Al Davis. He simply cannot be allowed any input into personnel matters.

Of the established guys in the league, who do you think would be a good fit for that role?

Cleveland is really only two pieces away. It's a good, young team with assloads of cap room. Add a QB and a premium pass rusher & they're in the playoffs...despite Holmgren drafting like an idiot last year.

Do we even really know how much of that was Holmgren? He was just the team president, Heckert was the GM.