New Raiders GM Mayock: Gruden has 'final say' on personnel

For anyone who feared the Oakland Raiders' hiring of Mike Mayock to be the general manager would create some sort of power struggle between the new guy and head coach Jon Gruden, Mayock is doing his best to alleviate that fear. When push comes to shove, the GM is deferring to the coach. "In all honesty, Jon's got final say, if it ever comes to that, and I've got zero problems with that," Mayock told ESPN's Steve Levy on Monday afternoon at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

Mayock was attending the College Football Playoff championship game, scouting perennial NFL pipelines Alabama and Clemson. "Now, having said that, I think we're going to come to a consensus and I like a little yelling, a little screaming, a little fighting for what players you believe in," Mayock continued. "But at the end of the day, I guarantee you, Jon Gruden and I are going to know what a Raider looks like and smells like. I don't think we're going to have any issues." After a brief playing career in the early 1980s, Mayock shifted his focus to the media. He has never held any sort of NFL management or coaching position, and he has worked as an analyst and draft expert for the NFL Network since 2004. After shadowing Gruden for parts of the offseason, Mayock was named the replacement for the fired Reggie McKenzie on New Year's Eve.

The Raiders finished the 2018 season with a 4-12 record, collecting a cadre of draft picks along the way. Oakland had a 39-70 record, including a playoff loss, under McKenzie. He helped orchestrate trades that shipped out former first-round picks and Pro Bowl performers Khalil Mack (Bears) and Amari Cooper (Cowboys) during Gruden's first season back on the sidelines since his "Monday Night Football" run. In addition to the franchise's own first-round pick, the Raiders will have first-round picks from Chicago and Dallas. The order of those selections will be determined by playoff results. The Raiders are slated to begin playing in Las Vegas in 2020, but with their lease at the Oakland Coliseum up following the 2018 season and their new stadium in Sin City not ready until 2020, their home for the 2019 season remains uncertain.

(With inputs from agencies.)