The Las Vegas Raiders cleaned house midway through the 2023 NFL season, parting ways with head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. With the offseason now beginning, it’s time to evaluate Raiders general manager candidates for 2024.
There is plenty of work cut out for the next Raiders’ general manager. Las Vegas lacks any stability or long-term answer at quarterback, the defense needs more talent in the secondary and both Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams face uncertain futures in Las Vegas. While this team isn’t particularly close to being in the NFL’s hierarchy of teams, the right architect can turn Las Vegas into a perennial playoff threat.
Let’s examine some of the best options for Raiders general manager candidates in 2024.
4 Las Vegas Raiders general manager candidates
Ian Cunningham, Chicago Bears assistant general manager
Finding a quality general manager can feel just as difficult as finding a good head coach. Part of the process is identifying candidates who have a ton of experience with the right organization. Before joining the Chicago Bears, Ian Cunningham served as a Baltimore Ravens area scout (2008-’16) then served as director of player personnel with the Philadelphia Eagles (2017-’21). Years spent learning from Ozzie Newsome and Hosie Roseman provided invaluable learning opportunities and shaped Cunningham as a talent evaluator.
The 2023 season also provided Cunningham with another learning experience, how to deal with issues that go beyond the field. Chicago found itself making headlines for the wrong reasons during the 2023 season, having two assistant coaches dismissed for cause due to inappropriate workplace behavior. While Cunningham wasn’t directly involved with the aftermath, he saw how an NFL organization handles it publicly and privately.
On the football side of things, Cunningham’s work as an area scout in Baltimore helped create a Super Bowl champion. A few years later in Philadelphia, he helped construct a perennial NFC contender and aided the Eagles in the transition from Carson Wentz to Jalen Hurts. Now, he’s one of the top architects behind the successful Bears’ rebuild. All of these qualities make Cunningham an ideal target for Las Vegas.
Champ Kelly, Las Vegas Raiders interim general manager
It’s rare for a team’s interim general manager and head coach to both have realistic chances of retaining the full-time jobs, but Las Vegas is in that unique position. When evaluating options for head coach and Raiders general manager candidates, Kelly might have a better shot than Antonio Pierce at retaining his title in 2024.
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The 44-year-old’s playing career was short after graduating from Kentucky, only spending a few seasons (2003-’06) with the Lexington Horsemen of the indoor football league. While things didn’t work out for him on the field, Kelly has been on a rapid ascension up the front-office ladder in the NFL.
It all started as the general manager for the team he played for, with Kelly serving as a contract advisor, GM and wide receivers coach for Lexington in 2017. A year later, he was hired as a college scout by the Denver Broncos then promoted to assistant coordinator of pro/college scouting (2008-’09), assistant director of pro personnel (2010-’14) then joined the Chicago Bears as director of pro scouting (2015-’16) followed by a distant as the team’s assistant director of player personnel (2017-’21).
After joining Las Vegas in 2022 as the assistant GM, Kelly helped identify and draft Day 2 and 3 talents like Thayer Munford Jr (238th overall pick), Aidan O’Connell and Tre Tucker. His talent evaluation also goes beyond the NFL Draft, with Jack Jones and Robert Spillane providing examples of talents found in free agency and on the waiver wire. Kelly is going to be a full-time NFL general manager one day and Las Vegas would be a good fit.
Joe Hortiz, Baltimore Ravens director of player personnel
We’ve been waiting several years for an NFL team to hire Joe Hortiz as a general manager and his time might finally be coming. The veteran executive has spent more than two decades with the Baltimore Ravens, learning from both Ozzie Newsome and now Eric DeCosta.
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We don’t have to tell you what you already know about the Ravens; draft history. Baltimore doesn’t just hit on its first-round picks (Zay Flowers, Kyle Hamilton, Lamar Jackson, Tyler Linderbaum, Marlon Humphrey, Ronnie Stanley, C.J. Mosley) it also hits home runs on Days 2 and 3 (Za’Darius Smith, Kyle Juszyck, Matt Judon, Chuck Calrk, Bradley Bozeman, Mark Andrews, Orlando Brown Jr., Justice Hill, Geno Stone, Brandon Stephens, Ben Cleveland, Isaiah Likely and Justin Madubuike). Hortiz scouted and helped recommend all of these players.
We like Hortiz for another reason. He’s media friendly and that should also matter to Las Vegas, especially team owner Mark Davis. In recent years with the Ravens, Hortiz has done breakdown videos on NFL Draft prospects and analyzes draft classes. An NFL executive willing to teach fans about the team’s evaluation process and educate them on incoming players makes for a better product and builds stronger fan support.
Catherine Raîche, Cleveland Browns assistant general manager
There hasn’t been a woman general manager in the NFL since 1985, but Cleveland Browns assistant general manager Catherine Raîche could change that in 2024. While it still feels like several team owners are unwilling to make such moves, even with qualified women candidates out there, Davis isn’t one of them.
Raîche has a unique background story. Born in Montreal, Quebec, she got her foot in the door as an intern for the Montreal Alouettes, with her business background quickly earning her a promotion to coordinator of football administration in December 2015. Two years later, she became assistant general manager and then served as director of football administration for the Toronto Argonauts (2018-’19). By 2019, she joined Howie Roseman in the Eagles’ front office as a football operations coordinator (2019-’21) followed by a stint as vice president of football operations (2021-’22) and she’s now assistant general manager in Cleveland.
She’s already on NFL radars, having interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2022 and more interviews for GM vacancies are coming. While Raîche’s expertise is on the business and football administration side of things, critical traits for a leader of a multi-billion dollar franchise, she’s also spent the last five years working with Roseman and Andrew Berry, two of the best general managers in the NFL today.
An interesting fit would be pairing Raîche with a head coach like Jim Harbaugh. It would allow Las Vegas to pair someone with expertise in football operations with a coach who will want to help build the roster. While working with Harbaugh would be a bit challenging for any first-time general manager, given his reputation of clashing with administration, Raîche’s background makes her an ideal choice for Las Vegas.
