HENDERSON, Nev.—The Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce is not a typical NFL head coach. He looks like he could still play; he doesn’t like to be handled, and instead of following conventional wisdom, he follows what had made him a super successful player, a terrific husband, and a world-class dad: his instincts. Pierce has been told his entire life why he can’t do things, and each time, he internalizes those sentiments and uses them to drive himself further. Shortly after Earvin “Magic” Johnson communicated with Kliff Kingsbury and convinced him to spurn the Silver and Black, rumors began to swirl that the Raiders offered Kingsbury a two-year deal because that was what Davis gave Pierce. Not true.

As foolish as they were, those rumors began to circulate on social media early this week; a player messaged me, “This bulls—t about AP only getting a two-year deal is disrespect to Mark (Davis) and Coach. You got to set this s—t straight.” The Raiders do not comment on coaching contracts, so I began to dig.

While I could have asked Pierce, I did not feel it was fair to put him in a position to discuss his contract, as in the past, other coaches have denied doing so for what they intimated was at the behest of the Raiders. So, I turned to sources around the NFL. A league source with DIRECT knowledge of the contract told me yesterday, while not speaking with the authorization of the team, Pierce, or the NFL, “I can tell you that it is not a two-year, and Mark Davis and Antonio Pierce came to an agreement on a contract that is commiserate with the market, and fair to both parties.”

So, while the Raiders and Pierce are silent, per the league source, we now know the foolish rumors that made Mark Davis and Antonio Pierce look foolish are false. Another source, a team executive from the AFC, said it best, “A two-year deal would have made Mark (Davis) look incredibly foolish and hurt his reputation, and it would have made Pierce look desperate, and his representation failed. Both parties wouldn’t have done that, and while fans may have accepted to fit some narrative that I can’t understand, no one around the league would have believed it.” Another NFL Executive with zero knowledge of the deal told me, “Those rumors are so ignorant, I can’t even believe anyone would believe that,” and yet, some did.

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently hold the No. 13 overall pick.