Las Vegas Raiders

Former Las Vegas Raiders employees have alleged that the organization enabled a toxic culture of harassment and a hostile work environment.

Briana Erickson and Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Saturday that multiple former employees came forward with allegations of the franchise, both in Oakland and in Las Vegas, leaving them "feeling unsupported, underpaid and at risk of retaliation if they voiced concerns."

One woman who used to work for the Raiders called the organization a "boys club and the Mob wrapped in one."

Nicolle Reeder, who filed a class-action lawsuit against the Raiders in 2020 for violating California labor law, told Erickson and Akers that working for the club was "kind of like survival of the fittest."

Erickson and Review-Journal colleague Jeff German detailed the series of lawsuits former employees have made against the Raiders dating back to 2013.

The lawsuits were filed by people including former scouts Bruce Kebric and Jon Kingdon, several Raiderettes, former assistant coach Tom Shaw and former human resources employee Nicole Adams.

The Raiders have seen an exodus of high-profile employees in the past year. Head coach Jon Gruden resigned in October following a report from Ken Belson and Katherine Rosman of the New York Times that he used misogynistic and anti-gay language in a series of emails over a seven-year period that ended in 2018.

Raiders owner Mark Davis announced in May that interim president Dan Ventrelle was no longer with the organization.

In a statement to Akers, Ventrelle said he was fired for informing the NFL about "multiple written complaints from employees that Mark created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct."

Between July and November 2021, senior vice president Mark Shearer, president Marc Badain, chief financial officer Ed Villanueva, controller Araxie Grant and senior vice president Brandon Doll left the Raiders.

Adams, a former HR employee, told Erickson and Akers that Ventrelle "was involved in every situation that happened, every situation of harassment, every situation of a hostile working condition."

One employee at The Raider Image team retail store said he was watched on surveillance video during shifts to monitor productivity, once got "criticized for blowing his nose" and was denied overtime pay.

Adams said she was "directed to create job descriptions that allowed the company to skirt paying overtime for workers."

Some women, including Adams, said they were told how to dress and would get singled out for "distracting" men who worked at the office.

"Those things were inappropriate because I had boobs and a butt," Adams said. "I just started wearing pants because I felt like I couldn't wear skirts or dresses, or I would be seen as being provocative."

Adams, who is Black, accused the Raiders of racial discrimination and retaliating against her when she reported other employees' concerns about pay disparity and unequal treatment. She said that despite working in human resources, she had "no power" to protect people from being "retaliated against or pushed out" by the organization.

One anonymous source told Erickson and Akers that Davis is at the center of the Raiders' issues because of how he runs the club.

"If you’re a truly good leader and organization builder, then you treat everybody well," the source said. "Not just a certain faction."

The team settled a class-action lawsuit filed by former Raiderette Lacy Fields after the 2013 season for $1.25 million. She made allegations of theft and unfair employment practices during her time as a cheerleader.

According to Erickson and Akers, each of the Raiderettes was paid a flat fee of $125 per game, but they didn't receive their checks until after the season:

"They also weren't paid for their mandatory thrice-weekly practices, but if they were late or brought the wrong equipment, they faced fines ranging from $10 to $125, according to court documents. ... The 40 women were also on the hook for all mandatory hair, nail and makeup appointments at Raiderette-approved salons, which amounted to hundreds of dollars in costs."

Fields said it "felt like" the Raiders "wanted to use us, but at the end of the day, they did not care about our well-being."

Allegations against the Raiders come after the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing Wednesday to investigate the NFL's handling of toxic workplace and sexual harassment allegations against the Washington Commanders.

Davis has been the managing general partner and controlling owner of the Raiders since the death of his father, Al Davis, in 2011.

There is "mutual interest" between the Las Vegas Raiders and free-agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, per Tyler Dragon of USA Today.

He added that the Minnesota Vikings also have interest and that the Raiders and Vikings "have both had multiple conversations" with Suh.

Suh certainly confirmed his interest in the Raiders on Tuesday while ruling out a return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The 35-year-old appeared in all 17 games for the Bucs last season, registering 27 tackles (seven for loss), six sacks, 13 quarterback hits and a fumble recovery.

While Suh is no longer the player who was a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro selection in his prime, he was an important part of a Buccaneers defense that helped the organization win a Super Bowl in the 2020 season.

He's also been incredibly durable, even into his mid-30s. Suh has missed just two games in his career, both in the 2011 season. His 164 consecutive regular-season starts makes him the current leader among active players.

The Raiders have had a big offseason, adding superstar wideout Davante Adams via trade and defensive end Chandler Jones in free agency. They also addressed the defensive tackle position in both free agency (Andrew Billings, Vernon Butler and Johnathan Hankins) and the draft (Matthew Butler), though that shouldn't preclude them from adding a player of Suh's talent.

The Vikings have had a less notable offseason, though one focused on the defensive side of the ball after signing players like Za'Darius Smith, Harrison Phillips, Jordan Hicks, and Chandon Sullivan and using five of their first six draft picks on defense.

Signing Suh would stay in line with that theme.

Amid speculation his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has come to an end, Ndamukong Suh appears to have interest in going to the AFC West.

In response to a tweet about his appearance on Monday's episode of NFL Live from ESPN's Adam Schefter, Suh wrote that the Las Vegas Raiders "could be fun" to play for.

Suh said on NFL Live (h/t NFL.com's Michael Baca) it "looks like the Bucs are out of the picture," but he is "excited to look at the other options."

On the show, ESPN's Mina Kimes pitched Suh on the Raiders as a potential destination. He responded enthusiastically, noting he recently exchanged messages with Chandler Jones and Maxx Crosby.

Tampa Bay signed Akiem Hicks on June 2, seemingly signaling an end to Suh's time with the club. The five-time Pro Bowler spent the past three seasons with the Bucs. He played well with 46 quarterback hits, 23 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks in 49 regular-season starts.

Suh recorded 1.5 sacks in Tampa Bay's 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

The Raiders have already made a series of moves this offseason in an attempt to improve their roster. They acquired Davante Adams in a trade with the Green Bay Packers and signed him to a five-year, $141.25 million contract extension.

Las Vegas signed Jones to a three-year, $51 million deal in free agency. Jones and Crosby could be one of the most impactful pass-rushing duos in the NFL next season. They combined for 56 quarterback hits, 25 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks in 2021.

Adding Suh to the mix would give the Raiders an interior defensive lineman who is capable of racking up sacks. He's no longer an elite run defender, but Las Vegas needs all the pass-rushers it can find playing in the same division where the opposing quarterbacks are Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson.

The Las Vegas Raiders donated $1 million to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District to increase security at its schools.

"We are proud to be part of something to make the children in these schools safer," Davis said, per James Volz of the Uvalde Leader-News. "Two weeks ago, I had a conversation with [former Raider} Vann [McElroy]. He told me about the hurt his hometown was going through."

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last month when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire with an AR-15 rifle. Seventeen other people were wounded.

The incident was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history and the third-deadliest in United States history.

“Vann told me that he had a grandson attending public school," Davis said. "He said his family thought about having him go to a private school next year, but he wanted him to attend public school as Vann and his son had done growing up in Uvalde.

“He said that Uvalde was in pain and needed help. I asked him what we would do to help ease that pain.”

McElroy played for the Raiders from 1982 to 1990 as a linebacker, earning four All-Pro selections and two Pro Bowl berths. He was a graduate of Uvalde High School before moving on to play college football at Baylor.

The donation will be used for "implementing impenetrable doors and cameras inside and outside, and putting up an unscalable fence outside," according to the Uvalde Leader-News.

Davante Adams is finally where he belongs, and the move to the Las Vegas Raiders will help cement his legacy as an all-time wide receiver.

The new setting should show that Adams isn't a byproduct of Aaron Rodgers' greatness and an offense that didn't feature a consistent secondary receiving threat.

If anyone is wrestling with the thought of Adams not being the same ultra-productive wide receiver with the Raiders as he was with the Green Bay Packers, consider this a situation like Cody Rhodes leaving AEW to join WWE and elevating his status as one of the world's biggest stars.

Adams enters the AFC as the conference's best receiver, according to a poll conducted by Bleacher Report with 20,000-plus interactive fans. The voting wasn't particularly close, either.

Adams' ascension toward elite status wasn't simply a byproduct of usage rate as Rodgers grew comfortable with him (and only him at times) in the Packers offense. Yes, Adams averaged a whopping 142 targets over the last six seasons. He's finished in the top four in targets three times over the last four years. Still, opponents knew Adams would be fed the ball and could do nothing to stop him, because he's one of the league's most consistent and precise route-runners. In that regard, nothing changes even though he's now playing in Sin City.

His consistency creates the separation found among the league's best targets.

As Pro Football Focus' Kevin Cole noted, Adams leads the NFL over the last two seasons in receptions (232), receiving touchdowns (29), first-down receptions (152) and average yards per route run (2.9). His receiving yards (2,872) and drop rate (2 percent) rank second. Adams is the best all-around receiver that money can buy and the Raiders were more than happy to oblige.

The Raiders traded first- and second-round picks to the Packers for Adams and then handed him a five-year, $140 million contract to make him the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history.

"I was a Raiders fan my whole life," Adams told reporters at his introductory press conference. "It is a dream to be a Raider, man. It's a dream come true."

But this is more than a good story. The Raiders made a savvy move by bringing in an elite target to pair with quarterback Derek Carr.

"It's not that he has the ability just to take you deep; he has the ability to do it all," Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown, who's the franchise's all-time leading receiver, said during an interview on Raider Nation Radio (h/t Rachel Gossen of the team's official site). "When you have a guy who can do that, it really puts a lot of pressure on defenses."

To Brown's point, Adams is the game's highest-graded wide receiver over the last two regular seasons, according to Pro Football Focus. His grade against press coverage last season was second-best. He has the second-most receptions of 15 or more yards during that span. His 22 touchdown receptions when working out of the slot are the third-most since the start of the 2018 campaign.

Whether Adams is facing press or zone coverage while working outside the numbers or in the slot, the back-to-back first-team All-Pro really can do it all.

Now his surrounding cast, at least among the wide receivers and tight ends, is better. The Raiders have one of the game's premier receiver threats at tight end in Darren Waller. Hunter Renfrow is nearly uncoverable when working from the slot.

And Carr may not be a significant downgrade from Rodgers.

Carr and Adams have a rapport in place from playing together in college. As CBS Sports noted, Carr led the FBS in passing yards (9,187) and touchdown passes (87) while Adams led the FBS in receptions (233), receiving yards (3,031) and touchdown receptions (38) during their two years together at Fresno State. The two are already close, which eases the transition to spur Adams toward greater heights.

"As far as talent and ability, it's really similar, if I'm keeping it real," Adams told reporters when comparing Carr and Rodgers. "They throw the ball a lot different. Derek's gonna fire it in there, and you gonna know that thing's coming quick. Aaron's got the ability to tighten that core up and flick that ball to you. So the release is a lot different, but being able to get the ball to you late, if they see you coming out of a break, not many quarterbacks can get it to you before you get to the sideline if you're outside the numbers already.

"Having two guys like that with really strong arms, and understand the game, the mental part of it, is another similarity that they have. They both obsess over it and they know everything that's going on out there."

Adams does have some competition for the top spot, though. The Los Angeles Rams' Cooper Kupp is coming off the best season by a wide receiver in league history. Including the playoffs, Kupp accumulated an unbelievable 178 receptions for 2,425 yards and 22 touchdowns on his way to becoming the Super Bowl LVI MVP. As a result, he's now viewed as the NFC's best wide receiver, according to fans on Bleacher Report.

If an argument was built on a single season, Kupp would easily edge out Adams as the league's best. The two are closer than they appear. As noted earlier, Adams is third over the last four seasons with 22 touchdowns when working from the slot. Kupp is second with 23. The latter has more yards after the catch than any wide receiver since the start of the 2017 campaign, per PFF. Kupp led the league in yards per route run last year, while Adams paced the league in 2020.

Yet Adams is more effective working outside the numbers and further down the field. Kupp's game is primarily built upon lining up in the slot and creating after the catch. However, Adams is the absolute best because he can effectively win at all three levels from any alignment despite defenses keying on him at all times. He's proved it year after year.

When asked, Kupp even sided with Adams as the NFL's best wide receiver.

"I think you gotta go with Davante," the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year said during an interview on Sirius XM's Mad Dog Sports Radio. "... What he's been able to do over such a long period of time, his consistency, all three phases—short, intermediate, down the field—he's an incredible football player. ... That's one of the coolest things I've seen with Davante is his growth and pushing himself to be a better football player from one year to the next. That's a pretty special thing."

Adams should continue to grow with the franchise he's always wanted to play for, the quarterback he chose to play alongside and the best group of supporting targets he's enjoyed during his career.

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.