Is Maxx Crosby going to be traded and how long will the Raiders wait to name Fernando Mendoza their starting quarterback?
With training camp now just a week away, those are the questions many are asking, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter addressed both on his Tuesday podcast.
Like most of his peers, Schefter believes the Raiders have every intention of moving forward Kirk Cousins at the top of the depth chart to start of the season.
“I think he’ll start the season as the Raiders quarterback,” Schefter said of Cousins on the Adam Schefter Podcast.
“They’re going to bring along their number one overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, slowly. And it’s a good combination. They know they have their present and future accounted for at the quarterback position.”
Crosby a Raider for life?
As for Crosby, Schefter thinks the Raiders’ All Pro edge rusher is committed again to staying in Silver & Black.
“Some people wonder if he’d still be on the market. I don’t see that,” Schefter said of Crosby. “I see him staying in Vegas, helping this team and being a Raider for life, and we’ll see how that plays out.”
Not long after the trade with Baltimore fell through, Raider Nation Radio host ‘JT the Brick’ said Crosby left him a detailed message about his return. The long-time radio host said at the time he believes the Raiders will get the best version of Crosby if he ends up staying in Las Vegas.
“By no means am I saying it’s a done deal with Maxx, and Maxx left me a very detailed voice message,” JT said on his Raider Nation Radio show in March.
“[It was] very detailed about his return and a lot of it has to do with God, his faith, and what’s in front of him, and I know what’s in front of him. If Maxx is left to play for the Raiders, we are going to get one hell of a player.”
Every indication is that something changed with Crosby when he learned he wasn’t going to Baltimore, and it will be interesting to see how the situation plays out if the Raiders get another trade offer for Crosby involving multiple first round picks.
Teams are still interested in Crosby
The California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore has been leading the charge on trade rumors around Crosby in recent weeks, and Bonsignore reported earlier this month what would be considered a “suitable offer” if the 49ers were involved in a deal for Crosby.
On the Raiders flagship radio station, Bonsignore reminded the audience that Crosby’s knee injury was nothing like the knee injuries suffered by Patick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill in 2025.
“It’s important to remember this wasn’t a devastating knee injury,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
“He probably could have played for those last couple of weeks. Obviously, he wanted to play in his best interest. He didn’t. He got the surgery. So we can’t classify this as, let’s say, what Patrick Mahomes is coming back from. That was like a multi-leveled, just devastating kind of a knee injury. What Tyreek Hill is coming back from is a much higher class. So very good news for Maxx Crosby that he obviously got the surgery, did the right thing, and is well on his way to recovery. It’s not something that was ever considered any sort of super serious type of an injury.”
But at the end of his segment on Crosby, Bonsignore dropped a comment loaded with trade implications.
“A lot of people are interested in that knee,” Bonsignore said. “I can tell you that. A lot of different ways this can go.”
Stop. Enough!!!!