Did the Raiders Just Stake Their Super Bowl Destiny on One Free-Agent Gamble?

To many on the outside looking in, it doesn’t appear as though the Las Vegas Raiders have what it takes to compete for a Super Bowl championship in 2025. 

The Raiders are coming off a 4-13 season in 2024, haven’t had a winning season since 2021, haven’t made it to the Super Bowl since 2002, and haven’t won the Super Bowl since 1983. 

But that hasn’t deterred new Raiders linebacker Elandon Roberts one bit. On the latest episode of teammate Maxx Crosby’s The Rush podcast, released on Tuesday June 3, 2025, Roberts and Crosby were on the subject of their relationship to one another when Roberts said that he has Super Bowl aspirations this season — and any other result would be a failure in his mind. 

“If we don’t win a Super Bowl I have done a disservice to Maxx Crosby,” Roberts said. “Why? It’s because I want my guys to feel that moment.” 

Roberts is a Two-Time Super Bowl Champion 

Elandon Roberts knows what it takes to win the NFL’s Championship; he was a member of the New England Patriots when they won both Super Bowl LI over the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 and Super Bowl LIII over the Los Angeles Rams in 2019. 

That fact gives context to Roberts’ conversation with Crosby. Roberts knows what it feels like to reach the pinnacle of football and win a Super Bowl and his singular goals every season is to help his teammates know what that feels like as well. 

“I want the moment again, but I want my guys to feel it because I am telling you right now, you will understand what they mean when they say the next one is the best one,” Roberts said. 

Roberts went on to detail some of the sacrifices that go into competing year in and year out during an NFL season – and said that knowing you are a champion is a feeling that makes it worth it. 

That proclamation fired Crosby up, and his response shows that he shares Roberts’ vision. 

“I did not come into this league to just be popular and have individual success,” Crosby said. “I’m trying to f— win. I want to win so f— bad.” 

Crosby hasn’t experienced much winning in a Silver and Black uniform as of yet — the Raiders have only made the playoffs once in his six seasons with the organization — but he’s committed to winning with the team that drafted him after he signed a three-year, $106.5 million contract extension this past offseason that will keep him in Las Vegas through the 2029 season. 

Could Roberts Help The Raiders Turn it Around? 

The Raiders would likely need to improve their 4-13 record by 6 wins or more to compete for a spot in the playoffs in 2025, and in a very tough AFC West division that just saw the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos all make the playoffs a season ago, that doesn’t seem incredibly likely. 

As of right now, Roberts is under a one-year, $3 million contract, so his vision doesn’t have the same longevity as Crosby’s. 

However, If Roberts has a solid season in Vegas, and acts as a veteran leader for some of the Raiders’ younger defensive players, they would have plenty of reason to re-sign him after the season. 

And at age 31, he should have plenty of productive NFL years left in the tank. 

So, Raiders fans should pay close attention to Elandon Roberts’ contributions in 2024, because if the Raiders are going to build a culture of Super Bowl contention, he will likely be in the middle of it.