Raiders Owner Mark Davis this past weekend at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis sat for a Q&A with Vic Tafur of the S.F. CHRONICLE, discussing topics including the team's $64.5M in salary cap space and where he and GM Reggie McKenzie "don't see eye-to-eye." Excerpts of the Q&A are below.
Q: With the roster upheaval the last couple of years and all the salary cap space available, would you say this is the Raiders' most important offseason in awhile?
Davis: Every offseason is the most important at that time, but this is one that we've been building toward the last few years. ... So, yeah, there is no question. We have to hit it right now. The coaches, they're all signed. Dennis Allen has every coach that he wanted. Everybody was all worried about that on the outside, but on the inside we knew what we were doing. Reggie has the fifth pick in the draft, and we have almost every one of our picks. We have to hit it now.
Q: Is this a put-up-or-shut-up season?
Davis: It's not put-up-or-shut-up, but there are no excuses. All right?
Q: Is it safe to say you were disappointed in last season?
Davis: Absolutely. Yeah. I have been disappointed the last two years. I want to win.
Q: Did going 1-8 down the stretch give you any pause that you have the right guys in place?
Davis: When you're not winning, there are always thoughts. But you have to look at the whole picture. You can't act on emotion. You just can't do it. I see continuity being a good thing, but you have to have the right kind of continuity. I am giving these guys a chance to do it. It's tough at times. We had these games that we were ahead at halftime and then we lose them. It's hard to have patience when you see that. Being patient is tough.
Q: And you have $65M in cap space.
Davis: The table is set for the Raiders to start building for the future. My goal is to get to multiple Super Bowls, not a one-and-done deal.
Q: I know you enjoy dealing with the fans. Does not having won for 12 years make that harder?
Davis: Everybody, wherever you go, everybody loves the Raiders, the mystique. It's amazing. ... My real goal is to perpetuate the legacy of my father. I am not here to do anything for me. The Raiders are a way of life for a lot of people, and it's my responsibility to get that back, that pride, that poise, that commitment to excellence. Those things are things that people live by, and we have to get it back for them (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/26).
