Jon Gruden recently said that players are calling him “dying to play” for the Oakland Raiders.
On Tuesday night, receiver Ryan Switzer, who was traded from the Raiders to the Pittsburgh Steelers in August, joined the chorus of players happy to get out from under Gruden’s ire.
Switzer’s comment comes less than a week after ex-Raiders pass rusher Bruce Irvin reportedly screamed “I’m free! I’m free!” in the Atlanta locker room after joining the Falcons.
The week before that, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie retired rather than continue his career in Oakland.
Individually, these comments and decisions aren’t all that different from other players moving on from a former team. Collectively, they suggest the rotting innards of the Raiders locker room.
Gruden’s rebuild this offseason included adding a bevy of aging veterans. The approach made little sense at the time and looks even worse in hindsight. Veterans begging to get out of Oakland only speaks to the faulty nature of the coach’s plan.
Switzer clapping at his fortune of escaping the 1-8 mess early is not likely the last we’ve heard about the dysfunction in Oakland in Gruden’s first season back.
