One of the best edge rushers in the league, and one of the best players on the Las Vegas Raiders will explore his options with a trade if the Raiders don’t make interim head coach Antonio Pierce the full-time head coach.
Crosby has been vying for Pierce for the last few weeks, and he took to social media to express his desire for Pierce to be the head coach Friday
The Raiders have also shown interest in Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh. If the Raiders go with Harbaugh, who just won a national championship with the Wolverines, Crosby will explore a trade, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport. They also report in an article from Bleacher Report that there are two separate camps within the Raiders organization.
“Inside the Raiders’ extended family—including fans and ex-players—sources say there have emerged a Harbaugh camp and a Pierce camp, with the locker room publicly united behind its interim coach. Crosby, one of the respected leaders and sounding boards for Mark Davis, has been through rebuilds in the past, doesn’t want to go through another one again and believes Pierce has earned the right to continue building upon the culture and energy he built in Las Vegas this season.”
Maxx Crosby just finished off one of his best seasons in the NFL
During the 2023 season with the Raiders, Crosby posted career-high numbers. His 90 tackles was more than he has ever posted in his career. He also had a career-high number of sacks with 14.5.
On top of that, Crosby has a career-high 23 tackles for loss. His 23 tackles for loss were the most in the NFL. These number were good enough to get him a second-team All-Pro selection as well as a Pro Bowl selection.
Crosby terrorized opposing quarterbacks all year. His 73 QB pressures were second in the NFL. Crosby was not just effective with his pass rush as his 18 run stuffs were also second in the NFL.
Maxx Crosby is going to read the TEs sham block on this Split-Zone. He goes with a Wrong Arm technique to side step the block and get involved with the run stop. Crosby shows up on film every week. #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/cHvKV44YAV
— Chris Reed (@ChrisReed_NFL) November 6, 2019
If you think that ‘sacks’ are the only indicator of how good/not good a NFL pass rusher is, please understand this –
I have gone through hours of film of Raiders DE Maxx Crosby this season, and he is consistently influencing passers in an elite way each game, all game long. pic.twitter.com/YlQknANsqz
— CJ (@RaiderSiege) November 28, 2021
Antonio Pierce had the Las Vegas Raiders, and Maxx Crosby, playing better as the interim head coach
The Raiders put together some of the best defensive performances in the league this year under Pierce. Most notably, they beat their division rival in the Kansas City Chiefs with 48 yards passing and zero offensive touchdowns.
The Chiefs just delivered 2 Christmas presents in a row to the Raiders defense. 🎁
Raiders are leading, 17-7.
— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) December 25, 2023
They capped off their defensive improvement with five sacks against another division rival in the Denver Broncos. This five sacks put them at 41 on the year, which is a vast improvement from the 27 they finished with last year.
The Broncos went into that game averaging over 100 yards on the ground. The Raiders held them to just 48.
A new coach would be the fifth one in just six years for the Raiders. Pierce would bring stability to the organization, and he already has players on his side.
Inside the #Raiders locker room with HC Antonio Pierce… and just watch how Davante Adams is locked in on what he’s saying.
The ending here is also great.
Pierce has brought a new energy to Vegas.pic.twitter.com/xolGcoJiLr
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 6, 2023
Las Vegas Raiders Davante Adams on new HC Antonio Pierce:
“I’m ready to run through a wall for that man” pic.twitter.com/N5FAWmc6nO
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) November 3, 2023
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