Let's set the scene: it's December 2024, and the Las Vegas Raiders are on a brutal 10-game losing streak. The No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft is well within their grasp. Three games stand between them and a potentially franchise-changing quarterback. Now, let's fast forward.
It's December 2025, and Las Vegas is on a 10-game losing streak. The No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft is well within their grasp. The only difference is that the Pete Carroll-led Raiders are one game away from the top pick, but Antonio Pierce's team ended up winning two meaningless games.
Pierce was promptly fired after the 4-13 campaign, and with Carroll turning in a 3-14 record, at best, he is surely on the chopping block as well. Carroll would likely go away quietly, but of course, that just isn't Pierce's style. He weighed in on the Maxx Crosby drama, and he can't gaslight fans about it.
Antonio Pierce sides with Maxx Crosby despite shutting him down in 2024
On Sunday morning, Pierce made his weekly appearance on CBS Sports' NFL Today+. Of course, he was asked about the current happenings in Las Vegas as it pertained to Crosby, and he had a strong opinion, siding with the superstar defensive end.
"I don't care what anybody says. You pay all that money in Vegas to go see Maxx Crosby. To see Brock Bowers. You don't wanna see the backups. You wanna see those guys. And the thing that's interesting? Maxx Crosby, I believe, the last six or seven games, has played in every, every game, every snap," Pierce said. "I was with Maxx for three years, and I understand the pain, the effort, the sweat, the blood, the tears that he puts into that organization. And I know it hurt him to be sat down, and that's why he probably went home and said, 'You know what? I need to breathe.'"
Thankfully, one of Pierce's co-hosts called him out and said that the Raiders made the right decision by shutting him down in these inconsequential games. Pierce fought back by saying that Las Vegas made the right decision for the organization, but not the player.
Another one of Pierce's co-hosts then brought his feet to the fire, asking him what he would have done in the same situation. Pierce gave an answer that both echoes what he has said in the past, but still resonates with the fan base.
"Yeah, I needed a quarterback," Pierce said. "I'm not talking (about) Maxx!"
RELATED: Raiders' 'ideal head coach' for 2026 would be a home-run hire
Of course, Pierce still has some sour grapes about his time with the Silver and Black. But it confounds reason why he is acting like the Raiders didn't shut down Maxx Crosby for the final four games of the 2024 campaign. Crosby is missing the last two contests under Carroll, but missed five under Pierce.
Crosby's injury was seemingly worse last season, but as fans know, he would have played if given the opportunity. He wasn't given that chance last year under Pierce, and for some reason, things are being made a bigger deal about it under Carroll.
Obviously, what Pierce says is true: Las Vegas needs a quarterback. But Pierce screwed the Raiders out of getting one at the top of the draft board last year with his back-to-back wins in Weeks 16 and 17, which dropped the team back to the No. 6 pick and altered the organization's future.
While Pierce was dealt a bad hand in several ways as the head coach of the Silver and Black, he can't act like Crosby wasn't shut down under his watch, too. Las Vegas played several home games in front of its fans in 2024 when key players were shut down.
Pierce admitted at the end that, to have had success, he needed a quarterback. He assured viewers that he wasn't talking about the Crosby situation, but it's easy to read between the lines here. For that reason, he can't gaslight Raiders fans and staunchly take Crosby's side when he did the same thing.