(Image credit Eric J. Adler/Boston Herald)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
After the Las Vegas Raiders made their playoffs despite the dark season the team decided to part ways with Mike Mayock as the GM of the Las Vegas Raiders. So one of the questions for the offseason is who will become the Las Vegas Raiders new GM. Well, that answer has been solved as the Raiders decided to hire Dave Ziegler as the General Manager. As always when I discuss a hiring I will dive into the experience/career Dave Ziegler has had in the National Football League.
Dave Ziegler tenure with the Denver Broncos
Dave Ziegler made his mark in the NFL being a part of the Denver Broncos in 2010 as a player personnel assistant. Keep in mind that while 2010 was Josh McDaniels' last year Ziegler was a part of the organization at that time. In 2011 he made his mark in the scouting department as an Area scout. Once the 2011 season ended he then became a Pro scout in 2012 for the Denver Broncos. So with the Broncos he dove into and grew his scouting skills plus learned a bit on the player personnel side of football. Until then his time with the Denver Broncos came to an end and he joined a different team that was continuing their dynasty and that team is the New England Patriots.
Dave Ziegler tenure with the New England Patriots
New England in 2013 decided to hire Ziegler as the Assistant director of pro scouting where he held the role until 2015. Then 2016 came when he was promoted as the Director of pro personnel until 2019. 2020 hit and he became the assistant to the director of player personnel and then got promoted to the director of player personnel. Throughout his New England Patriots tenure, Josh McDaniels was a part of the Patriots coaching staff. So in total Dave Ziegler has 12 years of experience in the National Football League in scouting, player, and pro personnel.
Now as you noticed I kept bringing up Josh McDaniels name when I was discussing about Dave Ziegler’s experience in the NFL. Well, it's because it is clear that they both have a connection and it should come as no surprise that the Las Vegas Raiders decided to hire McDaniels as the head coach. Which is a smart move as you never want the Head Coach to have any tension with the General Manager of the football team. So I get the move but I still am not sold on hiring McDaniels as head coach due to cough* cough* his Denver Broncos tenure cough* cough*.
I also have the same feelings as well with Dave Ziegler. In fact, many teams have tried to emulate the Patriots by hiring their front office personnel and coaches from the New England franchise. Almost all of these attempts to try and get one of Bill Belichick’s “students” have all mostly failed. In fact, it makes me wonder why teams keep hiring Bill Belichick coaching and executive tree. I said it with the Josh McDaniels hire article that this move hiring both could be on the level of Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia’s tenure with the Detroit Lions.
But while I do have my concerns with Dave Ziegler there is no denying that he does deserve a shot of being a GM in the league. He has scouting experience during his time with both the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. Not to go after Mike Mayock as I still believe that Jon Gruden was the true GM. Mayock was just there to scout players for Gruden and was given the title General Manager. That is probably one of the reasons why Mayock was fired at the end of the season as Jon Gruden had his fall from grace and there was no need for Mayock to stick as the GM. Looking back I am shocked that he lasted till the end of the season. I think Ziegler would be a better drafter than Gruden was though.
But there are more questions that need to be answered.
How will the Raiders improve on defense?
Can the Las Vegas Raiders find a speedy receiver?
Who will the Raiders draft in the 2022 NFL Draft?
Will the Raiders invest in Free Agency with 21.3 million dollars in salary cap?
I want to end this article as I always do once a position is filled by saying Congratulations to Mr.Ziegler. I wish him luck during his tenure as the General Manager with the Las Vegas Raiders and hopefully, he can help the team take the next step with a deeper playoff push and continue the team’s success.