All of the end-of-season drama surrounding Maxx Crosby could ultimately be his final chapter with the Raiders.
If he did indeed play his last snap for Las Vegas, there does appear to be one coach he appears to want to play for: Mike Vrabel of the AFC champion Patriots.
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini spoke to “Zolak and Bertrand” of 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston and said the edge rusher has expressed an interest in playing for the former All-Pro linebacker.
“I can tell you, I know he wants to play for Mike Vrabel,” Russini said this week. “He’s told me before.”
Crosby, the five-time Pro Bowler, stormed out of the Raiders’ Las Vegas facility after the team determined he would sit out the final two games because of a knee issue. In the wake of the Raiders’ decision, Crosby took to social media to post clips of him shooting a basketball and jumping on a trampoline, though it was unclear if those snippets were before or after he was done for the year.
He then joined the “Let’s Go!” podcast, and while not directly addressing how he felt about the Raiders and the choice to sit him, said he had “core principles” he lives by in football.
“When it comes to football, there’s certain things that I truly believe in, and I feel like there’s core principles that you gotta live by, and there’s a certain way the game needs to be played,” Crosby said. “And there’s a certain approach that you have when you go into the field. And the way you look at it, from my perspective, is you play to win. You play for your teammates, you put everything you have into the game, no matter what it is. There’s gonna be bumps and bruises. You’re gonna be banged up. That is a part of the game and the nature of the beast.”
At the start of January, Crosby underwent knee surgery to fix the issue, but questions remained over his Raiders future.
Fox NFL insider Jay Glazer told Yahoo Sports this week that he believes Crosby’s time in Las Vegas is done with three seasons remaining on his contract.
Glazer added that he believes a trade with the Raiders would cost a team more than what the Packers gave up to land Micah Parsons from the Cowboys before the start of 2025. And a trade would be Crosby’s decision, as the Raiders are not inclined to move him, Glazer added.
In 15 games, Crosby was still at the top of his game with 10 sacks and 73 tackles.