When a Raiders player begins talking about winning championships or even reaching the playoffs, for that matter, the only logical conclusion seems to be that the player is thinking of ways he might do that elsewhere. Given the current state of the roster, after all, the Raiders are about as far away from a Super Bowl as any team in the NFL. So it's little wonder that Maxx Crosby went viral this weekend for talking about championships.
Crosby has been as committed and determined a member of the Raiders as any player the team has had in the past decade. He wants to win, and he wants to do it with the silver-and-black.
But he's also 27 now and coming off the first major injury of his pro career, having had ankle surgery to end his 2024 season. He's also in need of a contract extension, which has thrown his future into question a bit.
On Saturday, he issued a post on Twitter/X, which went viral in a matter of hours, drawing nearly 3 million views.
"I Will Be A Champion," he wrote.
Again, it is hard to see how Crosby will get the Raiders anywhere near a championship, with a defense that has holes and an offense that needs to be entirely rebuilt. That has internet sleuths deducing that Crosby intends to push for a trade, so that he might chase a championship with an organization that is closer to contention.
Earlier in the offseason, Crosby said on his podcast that he was expecting changes this offseason, perhaps even personal ones.
"We’re gonna see what happens," he said. "For me, I truly, I love being a Raider. I want to win here. I want to win with the Raiders. But we’ll see. There’s going to be a lot of change. I am going to take it one day at a time, that is literally all I can control.”
That quote helped spark speculation that a handful of teams--the Packers, Lions, Commanders and Bears among them--could work out a trade with the Raiders this winter to bring in Crosby. And fans latched on.
That's still just speculation, but Crosby would, indeed, have a better chance to be a champion in any of those locations than in Las Vegas.
