To most observers, Raiders general manager Mike Mayock had a bad week.
After trading a pair of draft picks for Antonio Brown, Mayock was forced to release the All-Pro wide receiver on Saturday following a strange series of events.
But NBC Sports' Peter King sees it the other way. He believes Mayock looks good for removing Brown from the Raiders' locker room, and named his "GM of the Week" for the move.
King made his case in his latest Football Morning in America column:
"An adult in the middle of the playpen. One day we'll know the truth about precisely what happened, but in the end, Mayock realized he blew it by trading third-round and fifth-round picks for an incendiary device named Antonio Brown. Before Brown could ruin Oakland's 2019 season, Mayock drew his personal line in the sand and said if Brown was going to play in Oakland he'd have to accept proper discipline.
Brown not only didn't accept the discipline but also released a private conversation with Jon Gruden (illegal, by the way) in which Gruden pleaded with Brown to cut out the nonsense and just play football. Still, I don't give Gruden much credit for this, at all. If Gruden ran everything, the Raiders would have scotch-taped this abject disaster together and found some misguided way for Brown to stay.
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Mayock refused to continue enabling the player who had been enabled for most of his career. Good for Mayock-regardless what happens with Brown going forward."
[RELATED: Videographer claims Gruden agreed to use of phone call]
Brown's dysfunctional time in Oakland will be a black-eye on Gruden and Mayock, but they couldn't allow it to continue. He would have brought the whole team down.
While King honored Mayock, we expect the Brown debacle to cost him Executive of the Year votes.
