There was no shortage of excitement this offseason for the Las Vegas Raiders, who have made changes from their roster to the front office to the ownership group.
With Tom Brady and a collection of business leaders changing how the Raiders are doing business, the team was able to coax head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek to come to Las Vegas. The two worked together to help provide answers to some of the Raiders’ biggest issues, with quarterback Geno Smith and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty making the most waves out of all the new additions to the team. Prior to that, however, the first challenge of the new regime was figuring out what to do with superstar defensive end Maxx Crosby, hoping to avoid a situation where he wanted to leave the Raiders.
The end result of that saga may have lead to a good bit of business for the Raiders.
The Crosby deal signifies the Pro Bowler’s trust in the franchise.
In his list of team and player-friendly deals, the three-year, $106.5 million contract extension Crosby signed in March fell under the former for ESPN analyst Dan Graziano.
“The deal is team-friendly because the Raiders (who don’t put signing bonuses in their veteran deals and therefore don’t have dead-money problems when they decide to release a player) aren’t committed to Crosby beyond 2026,” Graziano said. “His $29 million 2027 salary becomes fully guaranteed if he’s still on the roster in March 2026, but that still means they’d end up paying him a little more than $29 million per year over 2024-27.”
The decision to keep Crosby in the fold is a sign of mutual trust between him and the Raiders to do right by the other.
The Raiders are hoping that Carroll and Spytek can bring some much-needed stability to the team. While it is still up in the air if the moves made this offseason will translate to more wins, it is clear that Crosby sees the vision the Raiders are hoping to implement and wants to be a part of it. By signing his extension, both sides were able to come away satisfied by the result.
The Raiders were able to stop any drama before it had a chance to begin, and that counts as a victory in and of itself.
