Jon Gruden is doing his best to ease concerns about the massive contract that he signed with the Oakland Raiders this offseason.
In an interview with Jarrett Bell of USA TODAY on Tuesday, the Raiders head coach hinted that he would walk away from his ten-year, $100 million deal with the team if he is unable to meet expectations.
“If I can’t get it done, I’m not going to take their money,” Gruden declared.
“Who guarantees I’m going to live 10 years?” he continued. “So I don’t think about that. You start thinking about a 10-year contract – people don’t know how it’s structured and it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is, ‘Is Khalil Mack going to be here? Is Donald Penn going to be ready to play?’ I’ve got more important things to worry about than eight years of my contract.”
The 54-year-old Gruden, who hadn’t coached in nearly a decade, was lured out of the broadcasting booth by a deal that was both the longest and the most lucrative for a head coach in NFL history.
He’s already getting an idea of how difficult the job will be, but depending on what his definition of “getting it done” constitutes, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Gruden doesn’t try to secure the whole bag from the Raiders.
