For brevity's sake, we will skip past all that has gone down with the Las Vegas Raiders as it pertains to Maxx Crosby. To sum it up quickly, the Baltimore Ravens backed out of a trade for Crosby in which they planned to send two first-rounders to Las Vegas, tilting the Raiders' and NFL world on its axis.
Thankfully, the Silver and Black have a bright, young general manager and head coach duo at the helm; otherwise, this could have been disastrous. But John Spytek and Klint Kubiak welcomed Crosby back with open arms, despite being blindsided, and managed to have an incredible offseason
It may be obvious to say that, when Las Vegas was on its free agency spending spree, it wasn't really anticipating having Crosby on the roster, as well as his $30 million contract on the books, and not having the No. 14 pick. Many feared that the Raiders would have to dramatically change their plans.
And while the first crop of free agents all still came aboard, ESPN's Ryan McFadden revealed that the Crosby snafu did indeed alter Spytek and Kubiak's offseason approach.
Maxx Crosby's Raiders return threw a wrench into offseason plans
McFadden's recent piece provided tons of new intel about the Crosby situation, in particular, the Ravens' access to his medical records before the deal went down. But McFadden also made some notes about how Crosby's sudden return threw the front office for a bit of a loop.
"The Raiders might have reconsidered signing both Koonce and Paye had they known the Crosby trade would be reversed, a team source acknowledged. But now, the Raiders have a strong edge rusher group with Crosby back in the picture."
Now, this may have been fairly obvious to fans, but it is interesting that a team source acknowledged it. It also serves as further evidence of how out of left field Baltimore's backing out of the deal was. But, as McFadden pointed out, Las Vegas has quite the crew of pass-rushers now.
Not to mention, the Raiders have been praised at length for holding up their end of the bargain with those free agents when a wrench was thrown into things, and rightfully so. Spytek and Co. kept their word, and they are likely still figuring out exactly where to go. But they took care of people first.
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At another point in his piece, McFadden acknowledged that perhaps the bigger obstacle for the Raiders was adjusting to life without the No. 14 pick, where they were sure to add another Day 1 starter. But he believes that Las Vegas may now have to make another move to fill that void.
"A source familiar with the Raiders' thinking said the bigger issue is their approach to April's draft now that they no longer hold the No. 14 pick in addition to the top draft choice. The plan remains to draft former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza at No. 1, but whatever plans they had brewing with the second Day 1 pick might now need to be addressed via trade or another signing."
Fans started to get excited about the prospect of USC wideout Makai Lemon or Penn State interior offensive lineman Vega Ioane entering the fold in the middle of the first round, but Las Vegas will have to pivot. The free agency market isn't robust at this juncture, but trades are always on the table.
The good news is that this was never going to be a one-year fix for the Raiders. It's not like they got screwed out of the missing piece for a Super Bowl run; Las Vegas is a rebuilding franchise, and they got an elite player and leader back in Crosby. Worse outcomes certainly exist.
But it'll be interesting to see where the Silver and Black go from here, both immediately, in the draft, and in the future. The Crosby trade had wide-ranging implications and signaled a full-on rebuild. The reversal of it leaves more questions than answers. Thankfully, Spytek and Kubiak hold the key.