Despite a season-ending injury a year before entering free agency, the Las Vegas Raiders re-signed defensive end Malcolm Koonce to a one-year contract.
Koonce missed the entire 2024 season with a knee injury, coming off a breakout 2023 campaign. It was one of the Raiders' most disappointing experiences last season.
The Raiders could have let Koonce walk and signed a free agent to replace him, but they decided to bank on a comeback, allowing him to prove himself in 2025.
So, how did Koonce end up back in the Silver and Black? He joined teammate Maxx Crosby on the latest episode of his podcast, The Rush, to explain.
“That was stressful, too,” he said. “I feel like the draft is stressful because you don’t know where you’re going to go, but free agency is kind of like your own mini draft, that nobody knows what’s going on. Only you, your agent, maybe your family. So, that was stressful, too.”
Koonce didn’t think about going anywhere else.
“I knew I wanted to come back,” he said. “I wanted to play with the guys again. So, my agent was like, ‘These people are interested.’ I’m like, ‘But what do the Raiders say?’ He’s like, ‘But these people are offering this.’ I’m like, ‘But have you checked with the Raiders in the last couple of days?’”
Crosby compared free agency to being recruited, and Koonce agreed.
“You would literally get on the phone with a defensive coordinator,” he said. “He would run it down. ‘This is how I want you to play, this is what I think you’re good at, this is what I like about you,’ stuff like that.”
The Raiders have long sought a consistent pass-rushing presence across from Crosby. They appeared to have it after Koonce’s breakout, but were stuck looking for it yet again after his injury.
Will Koonce be the same coming back? It is tough to predict, but if he plays at all like he did at the end of the 2023 season, he will give himself a serious shot at earning a long-term contract with the Raiders.
Crosby and Rob Leonard certainly hope that happens.
You can watch the full podcast episode with Crosby and Koonce here.
