Where Raiders' Front Office Stands With Maxx Crosby

The Las Vegas Raiders' decision to sit star defensive end Maxx Crosby for the final two regular-season games and his reported reaction to it were a microcosm of the Raiders' challenging season. On several levels, personal interests often conflicted with what was best for the team.

There were not many things that went right for the Raiders, and their front office did not want to risk another failure. With the season all but over and the team in position to secure the No. 1 pick, sitting Crosby protected their best player and secured the top pick. Technically, it was a win-win.

Crosby Makes It Clear

Still, the decision to sit Crosby, even though he felt well enough to play and had doctors clear him to do so, understandably led to hard feelings between the player and the team. However real or perceived those feelings were, they were undoubtedly there.

Crosby recently insisted those feelings are in the past and that he still wants to be in Las Vegas. For the first time in his career, trading Crosby has become a legitimate possiblity for the team.

"I want to retire a Raider. There's no question about that. I love being a Raider. I feel like it's who I was born to be on. I feel like it fits exactly who I am. Mark (Davis) and the whole front office guys, I got a ton of love for them. Recently, he was a little upset with me about the whole deal that went down, but at the end of the day, that's any relationship," Crosby said.

"It's not going to be perfect, smooth sailing. (Winning is) all that matters to me, and I want (Mark) to win. That's the thing. I'm not coming from a selfish perspective where it's like, 'No, I don't give a (expletive), I'm going to get my money regardless'. It's not that. I want to win here, and I want him to win and have success."

Raiders General Manager John Spytek addressed the situation between Crosby and the team shortly after the end of the regular season. Like Crosby, it seems both sides are ready to move on.

"I have a lot of respect for Maxx [Crosby] and how much he loves to play the game, and I've had the opportunity in the last several weeks to spend a lot of time with Maxx, and I think it's been well documented that he didn't love the idea of not playing football, and I think you always want that from your best players,” Spytek said.

“In fact, I think that's why they're your best players. So, I love Maxx; he embodies what a Raider is. I've been pretty upfront with that from the day that I sat up here almost a year ago, and I continue to believe that."

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