mike mayock
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Mike Mayock with Mark Davis.
As the offseason has gone on, the trade rumors surrounding the Las Vegas Raiders and Maxx Crosby have only heated up. While the team has said that they’d love to keep Crosby, he’s avoided directly addressing the topic, which has raised a lot of eyebrows.
At this point, it wouldn’t surprise anybody if Crosby ended up getting traded. A deal does make a bit of sense for both sides. The Raiders are rebuilding, so they could use more draft picks. Crosby wants to win, and that’s not something Las Vegas has done during his time with the team.
Former general manager Mike Mayock was the one who drafted Crosby to the Raiders, and the two have remained very close. Mayock gave his thoughts on the trade rumors and revealed what he’d like to see for the defensive end.
“What I would love for him more than anything is to finish,” Mayock said on the “Rich Eisen Show.” “I want him to finish up like Chris Long did. Chris Long played with the Rams for a lot of years and lost a lot of football games. He signed as a free agent with New England, won a Super Bowl. The next year, he signed with Philadelphia and won another Super Bowl.”
Mayock Wants Crosby to Play in Big Games
Crosby is as competitive as any player in the NFL. He’s very vocal about wanting to win big games.
Unfortunately, the Raiders have just one playoff appearance during his tenure. Crosby isn’t old, but he will be 29 when the season starts. He only has so much more time in his athletic prime.
The Raiders could be very good in the next year or two if they nail a couple of drafts, but they haven’t proven they can do that. For Mayock, he knows that Crosby’s ultimate goal is to win big games.
“I think Maxx thirsts for playing in games that matter in January and February,” Mayock said. “I think that is an all-consuming goal for him, and if it’s with the Raiders, God bless him. But I don’t know where that’s going to be, and if he makes a move, God bless him. I just want him to play in games that matter.”
Will Crosby Get Traded?
Before the Raiders decided to put Crosby on Injured Reserve for the final two games of the season, it didn’t seem like there was any chance he could get traded. Once they made that decision, the trade rumors became real.
It seems like he’s much more open to the idea. He hasn’t outright requested a trade in public, but it’s hard to imagine he’d fight the Raiders if they dealt him.
It seems like there’s a 50-50 chance he gets traded. The Raiders have no problem keeping him and won’t trade him unless they get a huge haul. Unless he puts pressure on the team to trade him, they’ll have no problem being patient until they get what they want in return. If any trade talks fall apart, the Raiders won’t be sad about keeping an All-Pro pass rusher.