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Mark Davis reflects on Raiders' busy offseason as franchise enters new era

The Raiders were at the forefront of pro sports coming to Southern Nevada.

As such, Davis again said he was grateful for the opportunity to play host to the NFL's signature event.

"Truly excited about that," he said. "That was a relationship that was with the Raiders, the National Football League, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, working together as one. Super Bowl LVIII, I think we knocked it out of the park. We re-set the bar for what it means to host the Super Bowl and I told them that we promised to raise the bar in Super Bowl LXIII."

The Raiders have also had an eventful offseason when it comes to the roster, with General Manager John Spytek having signed a [bevy of free agents](https://www.raiders.com/team/free-agent-tracker). Among them: center Tyler Linderbaum, linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker, edge rusher Kwity Paye, receivers Jalen Nailor and Dareke Young, and fullback Connor Heyward.

The Raiders, who also acquired cornerback Taron Johnson from the Bills in a trade, re-signed defensive end Malcolm Koonce, cornerback Eric Stokes and defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV, and hold the No. 1 pick in the draft.

And, oh yeah, they have a new, first-time head coach in Klint Kubiak.

"Well, I'm really impressed with the way John and Klint are working together, along with John's staff and the coaching staff," Davis said. "Having the first pick in the draft is exciting because we kind of control the draft - we get to make the decision on who we're gonna pick.

"But we've had that position before, and it didn't work out. So there's no magic bullet there, but it's a great opportunity to get a great player, whoever they decide to pick."

The elephant, er, Condor in the room, of course, is Maxx Crosby. Especially after the short-circuited trade of the five-time Pro Bowler to Baltimore ended with him back in Las Vegas.

Told he "lost" Crosby for three days, Davis laughed.

"Yeah, I was looking all over for him," he said. "I couldn't find him."

Asked if he could see a scenario in which Crosby still leaves the Raiders this year, Davis shrugged.

"I would say you should talk to John and Maxx and Klint," Davis said.

"As I said, I never wanted Maxx to leave, so I'm glad that he's back and I'm glad that we got Tyler Linderbaum. So I think we got out of that pretty well."

Davis then took a deep breath. After all, it was time for another meeting.

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