Silver And Black Pride
I recently asked for questions for this edition of the mailbag over on Twitter, if you’re interested in any mailbag questions please either leave them in the comments below and/or follow me on Twitter for a future iteration of the mailbags here: Twitter
Legitimacy behind the Raiders trying to trade Maxx Crosby?
I don’t believe the rumors that the Raiders are trying to trade Crosby at the current moment, but I don’t think they are fully off the train of trading Crosby. Crosby is entering the 2nd year of his 5 year contract where hell make 30 million in salary with all of it being guaranteed money. Should the Raiders trade Crosby they’ll take on just 5 million in dead cap space, and free 29.7, 27.2, and 28.2 million in cap space for the 2027-2029 seasons as well. Trading Crosby won’t be cap related, Las Vegas has a large portion of the cap in 2027, 2028, and beyond though they’ll need to start creating avenues later on as younger players will be up for extensions.
The Raiders clearly wanted to move Crosby this off-season, and I don’t expect them to be out of the equation for moving him again in the future. At the current moment, it’s hard to see an avenue for Crosby being traded. His value is likely lower than what it can be, and at 29 years old the Raiders don’t need to move him. Should a trade of Crosby occur, I’d expect it to be closer to the trade deadline and/or after the 2027 season where his value could be similar to that of the past off-season when Las Vegas was set to acquire two first round picks. The Raiders will certainly not rule out a trade of Crosby, but should the trade deadline come, and Las Vegas be sitting at or close to .500, they will need to consider if the first rounders or Crosby are more valuable over the next 2-3 seasons (I lean the draft capital fwiw).
Raiders Vets that could be potential cut candidates?
The most clear cut option to me comes with Aidan O’Connell, who per Klint Kubiak has been impressive during OTA’s and minicamp I still don’t think he’s going to end up on the roster in 2026. It’s hard to see the Raiders carrying three quarterbacks and sacrificing another receiver, defensive lineman, tightend, or defensive back. Another option comes with IOL Jordan Meredith, but similar to O’Connell I think he’ll probably fetch some trade value come roster cuts. Meredith will need to push for a guard spot, and/or the top backup. Even if Meredith does so, I struggle to find a path forward for him on the roster when Las Vegas could look to swap him for Isaiah Jatta, Niklas Henning, or another lineman released during camp.
Ian Thomas may have a harder battle than expected, Carter Runyon is a phenomenal athlete, he was a standout receiver at Towson, and I have a feeling that...
