As one of only two NFL teams that need to fill openings in both the general manager and head coach positions this offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders are situated to have a significant amount of turnover between now and the start of the 2025 season.
For the team's defensive star player Maxx Crosby, the differences can already be tangibly felt, describing on Friday's Good Morning Football the odd air these days as the transition of power gets underway.
"You know, the future of the Raiders, obviously I think everybody kind of knows what's going on," Crosby said. "I mean like I said I'm there every morning, we just talked about it, and it's very eerie around there I would say, a lot of new changes and things like that."
For the second offseason in a row, the Raiders face the task of finding a new leader of both the front office and the coaching staff after head coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco were each fired earlier in January. In total, Las Vegas has had three head coaches and three general managers during the six years of Crosby's career, with no sustained success to show for it from any of them.
And after this latest season's disappointment, which saw uncertainty at quarterback and mounting frustrations give way to a 4-13 final record and a third consecutive season missing the playoffs, Crosby knows this carousel of coaches needs to come to a stop to create a winning culture.
"At the end of the day, the most important thing to me, like you said, is stability and winning," Crosby said. "I want the chance to actually win and be in those games, be playing at this time of the year. I know what I bring to the table as a leader and as a player and I want everyone else on board. My main focus is being in that environment. So whoever is going to give the Raiders the best chance to do that, I'm all on board for that."
So far, the Raiders have scheduled or completed interviews with four candidates for GM and eight for HC, with the latter generating significant interest from outside the building. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is viewed by some to be a front-runner, while names like Colorado head coach Deion Sanders and North Carolina HC Bill Belichick have also gotten internet buzz, despite neither having been brought in for an interview.
Asked about some of the names swirling around social media, both speculated and official candidates, Crosby declined to give his opinion on which direction the team should go, though he did heap praise on all the figures mentioned, including calling Johnson "probably the best play-caller in football right now."
Whoever does come out on top at the end of this coaching sweepstakes will inherit a roster that has notable questions at quarterback and plenty of draft capital and cap space to address areas of need on the roster. But, one expected beacon of consistency amidst the turnover is Crosby, who has been a leader of the defense in his six years and currently is under contract until 2027.
While Crosby is recovering from ankle surgery that ended his 2024 season early -- the first time the defensive end had missed any time in his career -- the four-time Pro Bowler said Friday that he should be walking in a week and has already gotten back in the weight room during the rehab process. Once that has progressed, attention can turn to discussions about solidifying the star defensive end's future in the Silver and Black.
"Right now I'm just focused on my process and my day to day and getting healthy, we're going to see what happens with the coaching situation," Crosby said. "You know I've been with the Raiders for six years, I'm currently under contract, but I think I've talked about it before, I have no guaranteed money left, there's a lot of things that need to be discussed, we're going to do that and focus on taking it one step at a time, and we'll move accordingly.
"For me, I'm happy in general, get to spend some more time with my daughter around this time of year, and we'll let it all play out how it's supposed to. So regardless, I'm in a great place, and we're going to have those discussions real soon."
