Raiders Hire Former Chargers GM Tom Telesco, Who Gets Way Too Much Credit For Justin Herbert

In 2013, the Los Angeles Chargers hired 40-year-old Tom Telesco as their general manager. He was one of the youngest GMs in the NFL and spent nearly 11 years with the team. They fired him, along with head coach Brandon Staley, last month. The Las Vegas Raiders are expected to end his short unemployment stint.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Raiders are working on a deal to install Telesco as their new general manager. This comes a few days after the team removed the interim tag from Antonio Pierce, making him their new permanent head coach.

It's interesting that the Raiders hired Pierce before securing a GM. Generally, teams want input from their GM on the head coaching search.

However, Telesco's past with hiring head coaches is quite poor. He hired Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn and Brandon Staley. None of them survived more than four seasons.

Perhaps the Raiders believe that Telesco can build a roster, but didn't want him making any more head coaching decisions. That makes sense, given his history. At least, it appears to make sense. But, does it really?

Tom Telesco had some big hits with the Chargers, but some massive misses as well

Tom Telesco is a guy who prides himself on being a strong judge of talent in the NFL Draft. He's spoken in the past about building teams through the draft and only using free agency as a way to complete a roster.

Throughout his drafts in Los Angeles, Telesco secured some very good players. He drafted Keenan Allen in the third round of his first draft with the Chargers. Safe to say that was a good pick.

He also picked Joey Bosa and Hunter Henry in 2016, Mike Williams in 2017, and Derwin James in 2018. That gave him three-straight first-round picks who became major NFL producers.

Las Vegas Raiders hired former Los Angeles Chargers GM Tom Telesco, who has way more misses than hits in his career. (Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today Sports)

Many people credit Telesco for drafting Justin Herbert with the 6th overall pick in 2020. However, the Chargers simply took the only quarterback remaining after the Bengals picked Joe Burrow and the Dolphins selected Tua Tagovailoa.

It's hard to give Telesco too much credit here. The Chargers planned to take a quarterback and they didn't trade up to do it. Some might say that was the smart move, if they loved Herbert and knew he would fall to them.

But, most people forget what he did later in that first round. Telesco surrendered a second-round pick and a third-round pick to move up and draft linebacker Kenneth Murray. Not only is trading up to pick a linebacker -- a non-premium position -- a bad idea, but Murray isn't very good.

Kenneth Murray was one of the worst picks made by Tom Telesco during his stint as Los Angeles Chargers GM. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Really no other player in that 2020 NFL Draft class made much impact with the team. In fact, the Chargers might have fired Telesco after that draft if he didn't luck into Justin Herbert.

The 2021 draft class was strong, though, as Telesco scooped up Rashawn Slater and Asante Samuel, Jr. Still, his overall record in the draft isn't as good as many believe.

The 2023 selection of Quentin Johnston already looks like his worst first-round pick since Jerry Tillery in 2019. Plus, while Telesco has been very good in round one traditionally, his picks after that rarely panned out.

A stat was posted about Telesco prior to the 2023 NFL Draft: "Chargers GM Tom Telesco has drafted just two Pro Bowlers outside of round one since becoming GM in 2013. For reference, all other teams have drafted 127 Pro Bowlers outside of round one since 2013."

Yikes.

Free agency and contract management are where the Raiders need to be really cautious with their new GM

As stated, Telesco isn't very fond of free agency relative to the NFL Draft. There's a good reason for that: he's not very good at it.

He literally apologized to Chargers players after cornerback J.C. Jackson turned into one of the worst free-agent signings in recent NFL memory.

Also, while Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are very good wide receivers, the Chargers arguably overpaid for both. Combined, the two players account for more than $67 million against the salary cap next season. That's a lot of money for two guys who have never reached All-Pro status.

The Chargers have a lot of star power, but not very much depth. Plus, wait until Justin Herbert's contract extension kicks in. They had a window to win with Herbert, but Telesco didn't build the roster around him.

Most people blame Brandon Staley, but he's just a scapegoat. And, Telesco hired him in the first place. The Chargers fired him but not before he left the team in salary cap hell (second-fewest cap space in the NFL in 2024, per Spotrac).

Now, the Las Vegas Raiders have Telesco manning the ship. They're in desperate need of a quarterback and probably hope that the new general manager can magically draft another Justin Herbert. That's unlikely to happen at pick #13.

The Raiders have a lot more salary cap flexibility than the Chargers (12th-most in NFL), but who trusts Telesco to manage that properly?

He inherits a roster that desperately needs depth and talent without a proven track record of drafting good players beyond the first round. Owner Mark Davis has no problem spending money, but putting Telesco in charge of the bank account after watching what he did with a division rival for 11 years?

It's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see how it works out for them.