If the Raiders are going to have success in the AFC West this year, they are going to have to slow down three of the league’s better quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Bo Nix.
With Pete Carroll in town, the Raiders are expected to make some adjustments to their defensive scheme this year, but without an improved pass rush in 2025, it’s going to be difficult to make a defensive statement in Carroll’s first year as head coach.
A healthy Maxx Crosby should be good for 15 or more sacks, but with Christian Wilkins no longer in the building, all eyes will be on Malcolm Koonce to punish opposing offenses for keying on Crosby.
Koonce missed all of 2024 with a torn ACL and based on the latest from The Athletic’s Tashan Reed at training camp, the Raiders’ no. 2 pass rusher hasn’t necessarily looked like a game changer in the first few weeks of practice.
“It definitely looks like he’s still coming along. The reason why you haven’t heard much is he hasn’t been doing much in practice either,” Reed said on the Just Win podcast.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a concern at this point of the year. I think some of that is to be expected given the injury that he had, but it could be a situation where mid-season towards the end of the season, you start to see him come into form. So I don’t think the team is too worried about it, but it’s definitely been a quiet camp for Koonce for sure.”
Reed’s co-host on the podcast, Ted Nguyen, shared a similar take on Koonce.
“He just doesn’t look like he has that first step like he did when he was playing his best,” Nguyen said.
“I like his hand usage. I like what he’s doing from a pass rush plan. But for a player his size, he needs that explosive step. It might take a little time for him to get that, but it just doesn’t look like it’s quite there yet right now.”
Koonce is currently on a one-year deal with the Raiders, and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
If the Raiders have any interest in All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson, Koonce would potentially be a viable trade piece.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Bengals have scaled back their asking price, and it sounds like they are willing to take a lesser pick and a player in exchange for Hendrickson, who will turn 31 in December.
“What would it take to get a Trey Hendrickson trade done?” Pelissero asked on Monday.
“Back before the draft, the Bengals had an offer that was on the table that was a second-round pick and change. At that time, they weren’t willing to engage with that. They wanted a first rounder. My understanding is that the price has softened or at least changed a little bit. At this point the Bengals would want a player, somebody that could maybe replace some of the production they got from Trey Hendrickson, as well as a pick in the 2026 draft.”
x: @raidersbeat
No, keep Koonce he will be okay. I wouldn’t want to package a deal with the Bengals to get Hendrickson and have Koonce shine and Hendrickson regress. I like Adam Schefters Micah to the Raiders the best. Give them a 1st round pick. Crosby, Koonce, parsons…. I lLove it!
It’s the contract he wants that’s real concerning because he wants an extension and then a new contract in the $150 mil range. That would eat up our cap space and leave us with nothing including his guaranteed money. He’s 31 too..,
The FO gave Koonce a real good deal for him but not the team. A prove it deal should be made up of little to no guarantees and extremely team friendly. Since Koonce had a major injury and hadn’t shown much except for 6 weeks in his career the deal should’ve been much lower. Maybe then they could’ve signed or traded for a better complementary player opposite Maxx. Trading no more than a 3rd for Trey and giving him a 3 yr 29 per with 2 years guaranteed wouldn’t be the worse deal. Parsons would definitely be a better pass rusher than Trey but the draft picks and bigger salary ( think 43 per) will probably make that impossible. You can’t help but imagine Maxx on 1 side and Parsons on the other. Opposing QBs would have 2.2 seconds.