Ex-Patriots Finding New Homes With Las Vegas Raiders: If You Need A Job, It Pays To Have Good Relationship With Former Boss
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
The National Football League is the richest sports revenue-generator in the U.S.
But when it comes to NFL teams hiring players, there’s not much difference between a team coach hiring players he coached at previous teams and a supermarket manager hiring a cold cut slicer he worked with at other grocery stories.
No matter what line of work you’re in and if you need a job, it comes down to who knows you.
Take a glance at the Las Vegas Raiders emails about player transactions and you’ll detect a certain theme.
Raiders coach Josh McDaniels likes to hire players who he coached at the New England Patriots.
On Tuesday, the Raiders said they signed former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer, a 37-year-old undrafted signal-caller from Michigan State who has the distinction of starting a game for no less than seven NFL teams.
Entering his 15th NFL season, Hoyer originally signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2009 and proceeded to have three stints with New England (2009-11, 2018, 2020-22).
McDaniels is familiar with two other former Patriots players who have recently signed contracts with the Raiders — former quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.
Another former Patriots receiver, Danny Amendola, has also joined the Raiders.
Amendola joins McDaniels and the head coach’s pal, Raiders General Manager Dave Ziegler, as a new coaching assistant for returners, Adam Schefter wrote in a Tweet.
The Raiders roster also includes two players on offense who have the Patriots on their resume — running back Brandon Bolden and fullback Jakob Johnson.
From Hoyer’s Twitter account — from 2019, newest Las Vegas Raiders QB, Hoyer, with former Patriots players like Garappolo and Tom Brady.
