New Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said what many within Raider Nation have been feeling since the nixed Maxx Crosby trade this offseason.
Kubiak’s head coaching debut started with a gut punch.
His best defensive player was gone—traded away, medically rejected and returned like a checked bag the Baltimore Ravens no longer wanted. I know it sounds dramatic but if we’re honest, that’s essentially how it went down. Under most circumstances, that’s a rough omen for a first-year head coach trying to establish credibility before his first training camp snap.
Kubiak, apparently, sees it differently.
Speaking Sunday at the Annual League Meeting, the Raiders’ first-year head coach described Maxx Crosby’s trade reversal not as organizational chaos narrowly averted but as destiny delivered on a silver platter.
“It’s kind of like he never left,” Kubiak said, borrowing general manager John Spytek’s framing. “I felt like we picked up another free-agent signing once we got him back from Baltimore.” Who needs a PR department with Kubiak cleaning things up?
Klint Kubiak puts a positive spin on the Raiders’ debacle…
Las Vegas nearly shed its most disruptive defender for draft capital, Baltimore’s medical staff pumped the brakes over a meniscus repair, and the Raiders quietly exhaled. Crosby recommitted. General manager John Spytek called it “meant to be.” Kubiak nodded along and kept moving.
To his credit, Kubiak isn’t manufacturing optimism from thin air. The Raiders didn’t just recover Crosby; they unintentionally rebuilt around him with the aggression of a franchise that finally has a plan.
Spytek and Co. spent the second-most money of any team in free agency, fortified the trenches with center Tyler Linderbaum, plugged the middle of their defense with linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker, and added speed at receiver in Jalen Nailor. A trade with Buffalo landed cornerback Taron Johnson. If that’s not aggressive, what is?
Maxx Crosby isn’t going anywhere, right?
They also hold the No. 1 overall pick in April. That’s a franchise-altering asset for a team that has made the playoffs twice in 23 years.
As for Crosby’s meniscus, Kubiak dismissed concerns with the quiet confidence of a man who has watched him beat coaches into the building on a surgically repaired knee.
“With the way that he works,” Kubiak said, “it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s ready earlier.”
Las Vegas has skillfully transformed a potential disaster into a source of motivation. Crosby has returned and has taken on the role of the unofficial mascot for a rebuild that required a recognizable figure.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images