Let’s get you caught up on all of the latest musings surrounding the Las Vegas Raiders and Maxx Crosby—also, should Cam Miller start at quarterback the rest of the way?
To say the last couple of days have been eventful would be an understatement. The fact is, the season has been over for quite some time for the Silver and Black. Once that became obvious, it became a matter of whether the organization would embrace the future. By embracing the future, we’re talking about “tanking” and accepting one’s fate.
Well, it appears that the Raiders have done just that. They have sat several of their key players ahead of the “Tank Bowl,” oh, excuse me, Week 17. One of those players that made headlines was Maxx Crosby. On the subject of that, it appears that the team facing the Raiders this Sunday is also trying to outmaneuver Las Vegas.
Let’s take a look.
Maxx Crosby said “no thanks” to the Raiders tanking…
Crosby’s blow-up was predictable. What wasn’t is how close the Raiders seem to be to pushing their one unwavering star to a breaking point. When a franchise player “leaves the building” after being shut down, that is not a minor note—it is a warning flare. In Las Vegas, it feels like the latest sign that this partnership is inching toward rupture.
No. 98 has played through pain, chaos and three coaching cycles. Now, amid a 2-13 freefall and organizational focus on draft positioning, the Raiders want him off the field “for his long-term betterment.” He wants to play anyway. The collision was inevitable.
If the front office keeps leaning into the future while its most relentless player keeps demanding the present, other teams will smell opportunity. Buffalo desperately needs a premier edge threat. Chicago has a rebuilt identity but no closer up front. Dallas, juggling stars and cap math, is always one aggressive phone call away.
Crosby insists he does not care about the No. 1 pick. The Raiders seem to care plenty. And when a franchise’s priorities drift that far from its heartbeat, trade speculation is not gossip. It is symmetry.
Speaking of tanking…
The Giants insist they are not tanking. Maybe that is true in the technical sense. But when a team keeps pulling starters, downgrading contributors at the last minute and stumbling into Week 17 with the same 2-13 record as the Raiders, intent becomes less important than outcome. New York looks exactly like what it is: a franchise drifting toward the No. 1 pick and trying to pretend it is not.
Interim coach Mike Kafka has benched veterans, fired assistants and pushed accountability on a locker room that lost it months ago. The effort has yielded zero wins. At 0-5, he is not auditioning so much as managing the decline. Fans know it, too. Most want the loss, not the lesson, and a victory Sunday would frustrate them more than it would inspire them.
This matchup is not about pride. It is about leverage. The loser becomes the heavy favorite for the top pick and the bidding war that follows. The Giants know they can flip that slot to quarterback-needy teams like the Jets or Raiders and rebuild faster with volume. So call it whatever you want—culture building, evaluation, or development. The result looks the same. It looks like tanking.
Why is Geno Smith still starting?
The Raiders keep insisting they want to “evaluate the future,” but their actions say otherwise. With two meaningless games left, Cam Miller still sits while Geno Smith absorbs snaps in an offense going nowhere. This is when smart teams lean into development—play the rookies, test the depth, and figure out what you actually have on a roster defined by inconsistency and drift. Fans see the logic. Analysts see the logic. Even the standings see the logic. The only ones who don’t are the people making the decisions.
The Raiders? They are stuck on the wrong kind of principle—the one that keeps a franchise from gathering information it desperately needs.
If you are not playing Miller now, when exactly is the right time?
*Top Photo: Candace Ward/Imagn Images