Failed Maxx Crosby Trade Is Far From All Bad for Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders' offseason saga with star defensive end Maxx Crosby has seemingly come to an end. However, many aspects of the entire thing have not gone according to plan. It is only right for the Raiders to be in one of the most unique situations in recent league history.

Crosby Saga Over, but Not

Crosby and the front office appear to have put the offseason issues that arose from their decision to sit Crosby at the end of the regular season behind them. Las Vegas made several notable additions in free agency that will directly benefit Crosby. This is the best Raiders team Crosby has had.

Las Vegas has Crosby back in the fold after their failed trade with the Baltimore Ravens that would have netted them two first round picks. However, as much as the failed trade may have hurt, having Crosby back is far from a bad thing. He is still one of the best players in the league.

Las Vegas could have undoubtedly used those two additional first-round picks in the next two NFL Drafts, but they can use Crosby, too. With an improved supporting cast, Crosby will only be more productive and more valuable. The picks would have been nice, but the Raiders are not hurting.

Some around the league believe Baltimore's move was no surprise to Las Vegas. Not only have the Ravens pulled a similar move in the past, but league insider Mike Florio also believes Raiders general manager John Spytek knew the Ravens would do just what they did, and it could help Las Vegas.

“There are some people who think that maybe the Raiders engineered this and maybe the Raiders knew this was going to happen and maybe the Raiders knew this is the only way to get Maxx Crosby to want to be part of the team,” Florio said.

“If so, well done, Tom Brady. Well done. It wasn’t my idea. Somebody mentioned it, and I started thinking about it.”

Las Vegas' front office always made it clear they wanted to keep Crosby in the fold. Raiders owner Mark Davis and Spytek publicly said as much, multiple times. Although owners and general managers often say the politically correct thing, it was evident that they were genuine.

However, the Raiders genuinely wanting to keep Crosby does make it fair to wonder if Florio and whoever he got the suggestion from are on to something. All the moves the Raiders made in free agency made Crosby's absence somewhat of a tragedy before the trade fell through.

Of course, it would be hard to prove if this was all part of a grand scheme by the Raiders' front office to not only keep Crosby but also show their franchise player just how good he has it in Las Vegas. However, with as detailed as their front office has been this offseason, it cannot be put past them.

After their additions in free agency, the most glaring hole on the Raiders' defense, aside from cornerback, quickly became the void that would have been left by Crosby's departure.