Las Vegas Raiders Mailbag: Roster & Coaching Staff

I recently asked for questions for this edition of the mailbag over on Twitter, if you’re interested in any mailbag questions please either leave them in the comments below and/or follow me on Twitter for a future iteration of the mailbags here: Twitter

Legitimacy behind the Raiders trying to trade Maxx Crosby?

• I don’t believe the rumors that the Raiders are trying to trade Crosby at the current moment, but I don’t think they are fully off the train of trading Crosby. Crosby is entering the 2nd year of his 5 year contract where hell make 30 million in salary with all of it being guaranteed money. Should the Raiders trade Crosby they’ll take on just 5 million in dead cap space, and free 29.7, 27.2, and 28.2 million in cap space for the 2027-2029 seasons as well. Trading Crosby won’t be cap related, Las Vegas has a large portion of the cap in 2027, 2028, and beyond though they’ll need to start creating avenues later on as younger players will be up for extensions.

  The Raiders clearly wanted to move Crosby this off-season, and I don’t expect them to be out of the equation for moving him again in the future. At the current moment, it’s hard to see an avenue for Crosby being traded. His value is likely lower than what it can be, and at 29 years old the Raiders don’t need to move him. Should a trade of Crosby occur, I’d expect it to be closer to the trade deadline and/or after the 2027 season where his value could be similar to that of the past off-season when Las Vegas was set to acquire two first round picks. The Raiders will certainly not rule out a trade of Crosby, but should the trade deadline come, and Las Vegas be sitting at or close to .500, they will need to consider if the first rounders or Crosby are more valuable over the next 2-3 seasons (I lean the draft capital fwiw).

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Raiders Vets that could be potential cut candidates?

• The most clear cut option to me comes with Aidan O’Connell, who per Klint Kubiak has been impressive during OTA’s and minicamp I still don’t think he’s going to end up on the roster in 2026. It’s hard to see the Raiders carrying three quarterbacks and sacrificing another receiver, defensive lineman, tightend, or defensive back. Another option comes with IOL Jordan Meredith, but similar to O’Connell I think he’ll probably fetch some trade value come roster cuts. Meredith will need to push for a guard spot, and/or the top backup. Even if Meredith does so, I struggle to find a path forward for him on the roster when Las Vegas could look to swap him for Isaiah Jatta, Niklas Henning, or another lineman released during camp.

  Ian Thomas may have a harder battle than expected, Carter Runyon is a phenomenal athlete, he was a standout receiver at Towson, and I have a feeling that Runyon will make an impact on the Raiders roster in the near future. Additionally, Thomas is a pure blocker at tight end and after a below average season in 2025 as a blocker, that can’t continue in 2026 if he wants to make the roster. Additionally, Patrick Gurd is someone I am a fan of, and I do think he’ll have a shot to make the roster as a FB/TE hybrid. On defense, Adam Butler may be someone to note as a candidate, but I highly doubt it. After that, it’s hard to see many other notable options outside of Decamerion Richardson, the former 4th rounder. Brennan Jackson may be on the outside looking in, especially if Cian Slone can produce to the level the Raiders seem to think he can off his UDFA salary.

  Obvious candidates do come to mind as well, in Phillip Dorsett, Dylan Laube, Greedy Vance, Cam McGrone, Benito Jones, and Dalton Wagner. I won’t rule out a shocking candidate such as Dont’e Thornton, Dareke Young, Segun Olubi, or JJ Pegues but all of them are either special teams standouts in Young/Olubi or former draft picks in 2025.

How will Maxx Crosby be utilized this season?

• Crosby has played 95% or more of the available Raiders defensive snaps from 2022-2025 in games played and I don’t expect that to continue going forward. Crosby has started to see injuries catch up to him, playing just 12 games in 2024 & 15 games in 2025. The Raiders paid Malcolm Koonce 11 million, and Kwity Paye nearly 15 million which outlines high snaps for them. Additionally, Keyron Crawford will likely push for playtime in pass rush only situations (I won’t rule out Cian Slone either).

  I’d expect Crosby’s snap count rate to dip more to the 83-86% range similar to that of his first three seasons, keeping him fresh. That should should improve his production rates, and impact in the fourth quarter where over the last two seasons Crosby has ranked in the 60th percentile for 4th quarter win rate, pressure rate, and sacks. Additionally, the Raiders and Pete Carroll played Crosby nearly 40% of the snaps at 4, 5, and 9 tech. Crosby hasn’t traditionally played for a 4 or 5 role for the majority of his career, and I don’t expect that to be the case again in 2026.

  Rob Leonard has preferred to utilize Crosby as a true 7-Tech with only 20-25% of his snaps coming at non 7 in his career, and now with Leonard as the defensive coordinator, I’d expect him to retake that role with a lower volume of snap counts. Additionally, new DL coach Travis Smith spent time with Crosby during the start of his career, and I’d expect he’ll utilize Crosby again in a similar fashion as he was used prior to 2025.

Top position coaches for the Las Vegas Raiders?

• A year ago I wrote about Rob Leonard as the teams rising coaching star, and the team does have a few interesting ones on their staff. I plan to write about the whole staff soon, and that may be out when you read this but here’s a few names to think of. Luke Steckel is arguably one of the best coaches on the whole staff for Las Vegas, he’s been noted as a future OC and possible head coach in the NFL, has experience working on the OL & with TE and his room has seen consistent development over his career. Conner McQueen is just the team’s offensive quality control coach, but he was the former OC at Incarnate Word where the team recruited Cam Ward and he’s also served as a QB coach at USC with Caleb Williams.

  Rick Dennison has a long in depth track record, and he’ll help improve the Raiders OL naturally while having a good track record of improving young talent, though I think 2026 is his only year as the teams true OL coach. Additionally, on defense safeties coach Matt Robinson is fascinating, he spent time with the Ravens under Mike MacDonald, but he’s mainly served as a OLB coach so the switch to safeties will be interesting to see. Lastly, Ronnell Williams comes over from the Eagles where he’s worked as the teams ILB and OLB coach where Philadelphia has seen standouts Jalyx Hunt, Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean, and Jihaad Campbell among others.

Do you think any changes to Klint Kubiak’s staff will happen after the 2026 season?

• As I mentioned above, I have the assumption that Rick Dennison will not be the teams OL coach in 2027, not due to him being poor at it, but at this point in his career he’s likely aiming to transition back to a senior advisor on the offensive side with the OL. The Raiders had attempted to hire another OL coach but Kubiak was unable to find anyone fitting his requirements and landed with Dennison. Additionally, I think Las Vegas may have some reshuffling with a staff that was hired extremely late into the cycle, notably QB coach Mike Sullivan & RB Coach Omar Young possibly being on their ways out or shifted to different roles. Mario Jeberaeel could shift to a defensive role, and some of Leonard’s defensive staff could see reshuffling with DL coach Travis Smith and a new possible DT or OLB coach coming into the fold.

What role will Malik Benson have for the Raiders this season & the future?

• Benson didn’t have the most eye popping college career to start off with just 162 yards and 13 receptions in 2023 at Alabama, then 311 yards on 25 receptions in 2024 at Florida State. Benson transferred again to Oregon in 2025 where he hauled in 719 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 43 receptions through 15 games with a career best 17 yards per catch. Additionally, Benson did flash with his separation, ranking 7th among all 2026 drafted WRs in separation, and also improved his contested catches in tight windows this previous season.

  Benson wasn’t the best route runner in college, he had a limited route tree, but worked downfield well & paired that with exceptional work outside the hashes on 11-15 yard routes. Benson will likely have a shot to take a role for the Raiders as a deep threat, situational WR, and someone designated on YAC situations. I do think there’s a role for Benson this season, and it will come down to him and Thornton for a similar role, where at the moment I lean Benson as he’s slightly more pro ready than Thornton.

If the Raiders end up picking first overall in 2027, what do they do with the pick?

• Trade it, in some weird world that the Raiders end up picking first overall, though it’s not impossible and arguably wouldn’t be terrible (so long as they haven’t been blown out every game). The 2027 class features a ton of quarterbacks, who likely teams will be positioning for at the top of the class. In a world Las Vegas lands the first overall pick, while having a potential franchise quarterback, you trade out.

  The Raiders could take Jeremiah Smith first overall, or Dylan Stewart but capitalizing on the value of the first overall pick is a no brainer. Back in 2023, the Bears traded the first overall pick to Carolina for WR DJ Moore, 2 first rounders, and two second rounders which then resulted in Chicago adding T Darnell Wright, CB Tyrique Stevenson, Luther Burden, and selected Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in 2024.

Christian Wilkins update, timeline for the grievance and salary back?

• This off-season is likely when the grievance could be filed, that said the cap space will not be resolved as they are already backed into the 29.7 million in dead cap space for 2026. The Raiders are not on the hook for any dead cap with Wilkins in 2027. The Raiders haven’t paid Wilkins his 35.25 million, which is what the NFLPA is attempting to add, and if they are successful, then Vegas will be forced to pay that out which could impact free agency with less initial cash to handout for guarantees, signing bonuses, etc. All in all, I wouldn’t really think about it much, the Raiders won’t recover their 2025 & 2026 cap space, and after this season all is done as is.

What role does Michael Mayer have going forward?

• He’ll have a wide role for Las Vegas this season, I know that’s been said basically the last four years but 2026 does showcase the best possible case he’ll have to prove his value as a 2nd rounder. Mayer is already projected a 3 year, 30 million contract in free agency, and that can rise with a good season in 2026. Bowers has played only 41% of his career snaps inline, and I’d expect him to play that or less under Klint Kubiak. The Raiders will deploy Mayer as their pure inline blocking TE in 11 personnel but they also have the ability to come out in 12 personnel and pressure teams on if they are running or passing. With Mayer, Bowers inline in 12 personnel the Raiders have the ability to run wide zone, counter, stretch, etc or work their passing game with Bowers being an elite receiver and Mayer an above average receiving TE.

Laki Tasi timeline?

• Tasi shifted back to NT, and his experience at OL may benefit him a lot with the transition. Raiders fans need to cool off on their expectation of Tasi a bit however. The 6’6, 370 pound nose tackle is just 22 years old, and won’t turn 23 till this off-season. He’s a massive defender on the interior, has a ton of raw natural power, and is highly athletic but at the end of the day he’s only played professional football for just under 2 years now. Tasi will get playtime this pre-season as a 0-1 tech, and flashing the movement, power, and some development of his hand combat skills will be crucial. Tasi likely won’t push for the 53 man roster till 2027, and even then it’s an expedited timeline. Tasi has picked up football quickly, and that is the biggest step for him going forward.

Any possible free agent additions before training camp?

• I thought Las Vegas would add a few UFL prospects but they have yet to workout anyone, so I don’t see that being the case. That said, the Raiders will churn the roster during training camp, as any team does due to injuries, or looking for more talent. I’d keep a close eye on linebacker, where Tommy Eichenberg & Cody Lindenebrg have flashed plus Segun Olubi is a special teams standout but if the Raiders want a more proven depth addition, I think that’s a key spot to add a veteran. Additionally, runningback, defensive tackle, and tight end flash as possible areas the Raiders could add more talent or depth.