Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby has doubled down on his support of interim coach Antonio Pierce getting the full-time job. With Pierce interviewing with the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, Crosby let it be known that he will likely request a trade if Pierce is not hired by the Raiders.
Crosby said on his podcast Saturday that he wants to be a Raider but “if we go in a different direction, there’s nothing that’s off the table.”
NFL Network was the first to report the news of Crosby’s likely trade request if Pierce isn’t hired.
The interim coach went 5-4 after taking over for the fired Josh McDaniels, and the players have been especially supportive of Pierce and interim general manager Champ Kelly. Kelly is interviewing with the Raiders on Saturday.
“Let us build this thing and let’s see what we can do with it,” Crosby said on his podcast. “If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work, but I believe in him and I know this s— is going in the right direction and I feel like everybody else does as well. So, we got to do what’s right and bring A.P. back and bring Champ back, no question about it.”
Crosby — alongside receiver Davante Adams and running back Josh Jacobs — has been among Pierce’s most ardent supporters for weeks. After the Raiders defeated the Denver Broncos in their season finale last week, Crosby didn’t see any reason why there should be doubt about Pierce becoming the franchise’s next head coach.
“If you look at it, it’s like, ‘Damn, I wish we had this for the full season,’” Crosby told The Athletic. “And we have the opportunity to do that now, so why the f— would you ruin that?
It was a clear message to owner Mark Davis how Crosby — along with most of the locker room — felt about the job Pierce had done as the Raiders’ interim coach. The defensive end has already cycled through four acting head coaches in his five-year career, and he’s tired of change.
Jacobs, set to be a free agent, said he told himself this was going to be his last year with the Raiders, but that changed when Pierce became the interim coach.
“With AP, I am definitely 100 percent in,” Jacobs said after the last game of the season. “However it looks, whatever it looks like.”
Pierce fell short of making the playoffs, but his work to reinvigorate the locker room, empower the assistant coaches and help strengthen team culture went a long way with the players. They believe the growth they displayed under his leadership was real and will only continue if he and Kelly are given more time to continue building on the foundation they’ve started to set.
Crosby, Jacobs and 10 other players were in a similar situation two years ago when they publicly supported interim coach Rich Bisaccia after he went 7-5 when he took over after Jon Gruden resigned. Davis instead went with McDaniels.
“We f—ed it all up,” Crosby said on his podcast.
By all accounts, Davis has been similarly impressed with Pierce. Before the season ended, he was already leaning toward retaining Pierce and Kelly.
“I would love for the guys that are in this job right now to be able to keep it,” Davis said last month, “but we’ll see how that goes.”
Of course, the Raiders have still been obligated to conduct full GM and head coach searches per NFL rules. Including Kelly, they’ve interviewed six candidates for the GM position. They haven’t interviewed any external head coach candidates yet because they want to hire a GM first.
“I believe the GM has to have some say in who the coaching staff is going to be,” Davis said last month.
The sense is that Kelly is the favorite to be hired as the next GM. And, while the Raiders would interview outside head coaching candidates afterward, Pierce would be the leading candidate to get the job.
Under the scenario that the Raiders don’t hire Pierce, and Crosby requests a trade, there’s no guarantee that the Raiders would acquiesce. The Raiders consider the two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl selection to be an untouchable player. Not only is he one of the best defensive ends in the league, but off the field, he’s invaluable as a team leader and has made an impact through his charitable work in the Las Vegas community.
The Raiders would free up about $9.1 million in cap space if they traded Crosby, but they’d also incur a dead-money hit of just over $15.3 million. For those reasons, it’s hard to envision a world where the Raiders would trade Crosby. But, if they did explore their options, he would surely have numerous suitors and draw significant offers. He’s in his prime at 26 years old, has two years left on his contract and only seems to be getting better. Nonetheless, moving on from Crosby would be a disastrous outcome for the Raiders.
Crosby said on his podcast that he’ll need knee and thumb surgery this offseason. He went to Los Angeles this week to meet with Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache and discuss a plan. While he played all 17 games this season, he frequently missed practices and had to push through pain.
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