Posted Jan. 6, 2011 @ 4:44 a.m. ET
Updated Jan. 6, 2011 @ 2:43 p.m. ET

The Raiders have hired Packers director of football operations Reggie McKenzie as their new general manager, the team announced on Friday.

McKenzie, 48, had been rumored as a candidate for several GM openings, but he and his representatives were in discussions with the Raiders most of the week regarding his role and the extent of his authority within the organization. His official interview with the team occurred Wednesday.

McKenzie's candidacy reportedly got a boost from former Raiders executives John Madden, Ron Wolf and Ken Herock, who have been advising the team since the death of longtime owner and de facto GM Al Davis. Coach Hue Jackson had been making most of the personnel decisions since Davis' death.

"Reggie's a tremendous evaluator," Wolf told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter and PFW Packers correspondent Bob McGinn in November. "He can tell you who can play and who can't play. That's what it's all about. Some can write reports but can't tell you who can play.

"Whatever that is, he has that. He has a feel."

McKenzie could bring Packers assistant director of pro personnel Eliot Wolf with him to Oakland, according to NFL Network's Jason La Canfora. Wolf is the son of Ron Wolf, a longtime executive with both the Raiders and Packers before his retirement.

McKenzie had been the Packers' director of football operations since 2008.

The way we see it

Hiring McKenzie adds some stability to a Raiders organization that has been in flux since Davis passed away in October. The team will have limited salary-cap space this offseason and has no draft choices in the first four rounds of April's draft, but at least they have an experienced GM to oversee the organization and allow Jackson to focus on coaching.