The Las Vegas Raiders needed to make dramatic changes to the quarterback room this offseason after a disastrous 2024 campaign. Veteran signal-caller Gardner Minshew seemingly lost his mojo with the Silver and Black, and second-year player Aidan O'Connell failed to prove he is a franchise-level player once again.
Ultimately, the team traded for Geno Smith and added North Dakota State quarterback Cam Miller in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. However, all offseason, the franchise was linked with Colorado's Shedeur Sanders with the No. 6 pick.
Instead of utilizing the selection on a potential quarterback of the future, the team chose Ashton Jeanty, and Sanders slid all the way to the fifth round. There, he was selected by the Cleveland Browns.
Maxx Crosby's Geno Smith praise will make Raiders fans forget all about Shedeur Sanders
While most felt that this story -- and all the drama that came with it -- was over in Las Vegas, star defensive end Maxx Crosby shut the door completely. On his most recent episode of "The Rush With Maxx Crosby," he was asked about why the team continually passed on Sanders in the draft and if Smith is truly a long-term option.
"We got Geno bro," Crosby said. "Hell yeah (he is the long-term solution). I mean, he's 34, but quarterbacks, their age is different. He's going to be here for a while."
If the team's franchise player can get behind a decision like this, then the fan base should not be too far behind him. While Sanders was certainly an exciting prospect for Raider Nation at one point during the offseason, that ship has sailed.
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Crosby and the team are seemingly sold on what new head coach Pete Carroll, general manager John Spytek and minority owner Tom Brady are building.
"Bringing Pete in, and Spytek and Brady and all of them, they have a specific vision of what they want," Crosby said. "We're all-in on that. I like how we drafted bro, we got some dogs."
Time will tell or not if the decision to pass on Sanders will haunt the franchise. At his best, he could have been a Pro Bowl caliber player, but at his worst, he is a major distraction for the team as a backup quarterback.
That is a wide range of possibilities for a player taken with premier draft capital, so perhaps the Raiders are better off. At least Maxx Crosby thinks so.