While the Raiders did everything they could to convince the rest of the league they were going to keep Maxx Crosby, it sounds like the people at the top of the organization have known he was leaving since last year.
The Athletic’s Vic Tafur left the Raiders’ beat a year ago, but he dropped a few nuggets on Saturday that sounded like they could have only come from one place.
“Mark Davis knew it was over; it was really just a matter of giving his blessing,” Tafur reported on Crosby’s impending departure from the Raiders.
“The Raiders’ owner went to Maxx Crosby’s house two months ago, and the two talked for hours about the pass rusher’s issues with the present state of affairs in Las Vegas. They shared some laughs about the past and then agreed that maybe it was time to have different futures.”
Presumably, Crosby’s meeting with Davis was what Tafur’s colleague at The Athletic was referring to on Saturday when she said Crosby fate was “sealed” all the way back in December.
Davis, Tom Brady and GM John Spytek deserve credit for keeping the full details of the Crosby situation quiet for more than three months as even some of the most connected media personalities in the Raiders’ building were
“When it comes to the news of Maxx Crosby, most of it has been fake and I’ve been telling you that for months,” Raider Nation Radio host ‘JT the Brick’ said last week on his flagship radio show.
“Now, could he be traded? Yes, he could be. If something happens and there’s an impasse at some point, I don’t see it, but if it is, it’s not the end of the world. I didn’t trade him. I’m not the guy to do it, and I don’t think he’s going to get traded.”
“Everybody keeps score nowadays. Everybody keeps score. And then a lot of people that have no relationship to Maxx at all, they need to be heard on this topic because their editors and bosses are saying, ‘Look, man. You got to get your clicks up because we got a paywall. We have a paywall, and people aren’t paying to read your articles on the Raiders or someone else, so we need you to come up with something on Maxx to get your numbers up…’” JT continued.
“Everybody is running around and they’re just throwing stuff up there… [these people] that have contacts with all these people. I have contacts with all these people too. I have a lot of them too. Some of them better. But I’m not in the news-breaking business.”
For what it’s worth, revisiting JT’s comments isn’t an effort to point out a miss. Instead, his comments raise the question of whether some of the most connected people in the building had any idea of Crosby’s standing with the team or were they downplaying the situation to benefit Crosby’s trade value?
As Tafur and others have pointed out, by concealing Crosby’s interest in leaving the Raiders, it boosted his trade value and everyone within the organization would have understood that.
Either way, the Raiders seemingly handled Crosby’s final days with the organization as well as anyone could have.
According to reports, the Raiders were looking for two first-round picks and a player for Crosby, but the assumption was that this year’s pick would probably come from a team picking at the end of the first round.
With the Ravens no. 14 pick involved in the deal, the Raiders might feel they got the equivalent of two late first-round picks and a player.
And despite Crosby’s presence in Baltimore, are the Ravens really going to be a contender for the Super Bowl in 2026… and earn a late draft pick in the 2027 draft?
Maybe.
But you can bet every Raider fan will be rooting against it.
x: @raidersbeat