The Las Vegas Raiders have longed for a pass-rushing complement to Maxx Crosby. It certainly hasn't come at the defensive tackle position, even if he's had solid teammates, but outside of one year from Yannick Ngakoue and half a campaign from Malcolm Koonce, Crosby has been on his own.
While not at the top of the priority list this offseason, the Raiders were going to need to do their due diligence and see if they could bring in an adequate running mate for the five-time Pro Bowler. However, there are now questions about whether Crosby will even remain in Las Vegas.
Crosby was sidelined in Week 17 against the New York Giants, as he's been shut down for the year, but Koonce stepped up big, despite the 34-10 loss. His strong play is encouraging, but considering he is bound for unrestricted free agency again, it puts the Raiders in a peculiar position.
Raiders seeing Malcolm Koonce of old makes offseason decision difficult
Koonce started off the season well with a sack in Week 1 before fading into oblivion for several months, really. He has been playing at a solid level since Week 12, however, and in three of the last four weeks, Koonce has been flat-out good.
In the last six games, he has recorded 13 pressures, which include 3.0 sacks, five hurries and five quarterback hits. On Sunday, he recorded 1.0 sack and six pressures, including three hurries and two quarterback hits. He also made two run stops, bringing his total to 16 on the year.
Coming off an ACL tear is never easy, especially for a twitchy pass-rusher like Koonce. His midseason lull is evidence of that. But Koonce is finally starting to show signs of his old self again, which is encouraging for the Raiders' front office, but leaves them with a tough decision about re-signing him.
On the one hand, they could bank on the fact that he'll revert to his 2023 form as he gets further removed from injury and re-sign him. But to what kind of deal? Surely he wouldn't get a one-year, $11 million deal again this offseason from Las Vegas, but what is a solid price point for him?
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The Raiders could probably get more surefire production in his projected market value range, but they may not find a player with Koonce's upside. Tyree Wilson hasn't panned out, and Charles Snowden is not the answer next to Crosby, but they'll both be far cheaper than Koonce will be.
If Las Vegas wants to find a true complement to Crosby, as the pass-rush has been awful this season, they may want to spend a bit more in free agency or use a high draft pick. It's hard to imagine a world where they keep that player, Crosby, Koonce, Wilson and Snowden. That's too crowded a room.
But if they dish Crosby for a mountain of picks, it makes sense to bring Koonce back as the veteran of sorts. But he can't be the solution as your top pass-rusher, so Koonce is floating somewhere in the middle, making life difficult for the Raiders' front office. Good, but not quite good enough right now.
In a perfect world, Crosby stays in Las Vegas, Koonce is re-signed to a team-friendly deal and becomes the player fans think he can be, and the Raiders still sign a promising young edge to give the room a more promising future, at the expense of Wilson or Snowden. But that's a lot to bank on.
It is never a bad thing when a player like Koonce starts to play well again. But fans had largely given up on Koonce and set their sights on new blood in the room, and now, he is making them second-guess that. Throw in the fact that Crosby's future is up in the air, and it just makes things plain complicated.