Raiders restructure front office

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ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie started restructuring the player personnel department by announcing on Tuesday the departure of four longtime employees.

The Raiders said that Jon Kingdon and Bruce Kebric have been fired and George Karras and Kent McCloughan resigned.

"This was a very difficult decision because these individuals have been part of this organization for all or parts of four decades," McKenzie said in a statement. "We're grateful for their dedicated service to the Raiders."

McKenzie said shortly after taking over as general manager in January that he wanted to build his own personnel department after the NFL draft in April. McKenzie is expected to announce the restructuring of the department later this month.

McCloughan, who first joined the organization in the mid-1960s as a standout cornerback, said he will still watch every Raiders game and wished McKenzie the best. McCloughan credited late owner Al Davis for giving him a chance.

"I owe him a lot. He was so nice to my family and me," McCloughan said. "We had some great years, including when Ron Wolf was with us. We won a lot of games. I had the opportunity to work 47 years with one team. I enjoyed it so much. I thought Al Davis was an outstanding person and boss. I enjoyed the scouting department, the coaches and players I had the opportunity to work with, and I'll always be a Raider. I'm going out about as good as a person can go out. You couldn't have written a better story for me."

The Raiders also signed free-agent center Colin Miller to a contract to provide depth on the offensive line. Miller was signed last year by Pittsburgh as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Central Michigan. He was cut by the Steelers at the end of training camp.

Miller played in 47 career games with 46 starts during his collegiate career. He received second team all-Mid-American Conference honors following both his junior and senior seasons.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

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