With training camp a week away, the Raiders’ quarterback picture and Maxx Crosby’s future are still drawing plenty of attention - and ESPN’s Adam Schefter weighed in on both Tuesday.
Schefter said he expects Kirk Cousins to open the season as Las Vegas’ starter, with first overall pick Fernando Mendoza eased in behind him.
“I think he’ll start the season as the Raiders quarterback,” Schefter said of Cousins on the Adam Schefter Podcast.
“They’re going to bring along their number one overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, slowly. And it’s a good combination. They know they have their present and future accounted for at the quarterback position.”
Crosby, meanwhile, remains the bigger long-term question for plenty of people around the league. Schefter said he sees the All Pro edge rusher staying put.
“Some people wonder if he’d still be on the market. I don’t see that,” Schefter said of Crosby. “I see him staying in Vegas, helping this team and being a Raider for life, and we’ll see how that plays out.”
That lines up with comments from Raider Nation Radio host JT the Brick, who said in March that Crosby left him a detailed message after the trade with Baltimore fell through. JT said then that if Crosby stayed in Las Vegas, the Raiders would get his best version.
“By no means am I saying it’s a done deal with Maxx, and Maxx left me a very detailed voice message,” JT said on his Raider Nation Radio show in March.
“[It was] very detailed about his return and a lot of it has to do with God, his faith, and what’s in front of him, and I know what’s in front of him. If Maxx is left to play for the Raiders, we are going to get one hell of a player.”
There’s also still league interest in Crosby, and the possibility of another trade offer has not gone away. The discussion has picked up in recent weeks, with the California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore reporting earlier this month what would qualify as a “suitable offer” if the 49ers got involved.
Bonsignore also pushed back on the idea that Crosby’s knee injury should be viewed as a major red flag, saying on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate that the injury was not comparable to the ones Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill are dealing with in 2025.
“It’s important to remember this wasn’t a devastating knee injury,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
“He probably could have played for those last couple of weeks. Obviously, he wanted to play in his best interest.
He didn’t. He got the surgery.
So we can’t classify this as, let’s say, what Patrick Mahomes is coming back from. That was like a multi-leveled, just devastating kind of a knee injury.
What Tyreek Hill is coming back from is a much higher class. So very good news for Maxx Crosby that he obviously got the surgery, did the right thing, and is well on his way to recovery.
It’s not something that was ever considered any sort of super serious type of an injury.”
Bonsignore closed by noting that the market could still move in different directions.
“A lot of people are interested in that knee,” Bonsignore said. “I can tell you that. A lot of different ways this can go.”
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