Ladies and gentlemen, the Las Vegas Raiders have a head coach! We’ll get a preview of what Klint Kubiak’s offense could look like in Vegas with the Seattle Seahawks taking on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60, as the Kubiak era is set to begin next week. But before all of that, we have this week’s mailbag to get to, touching on the Raiders’ new head coach, the 2026 NFL draft, free agency and the offseason as a whole. Let’s get to it!
Q: What’s the IDEAL Maxx Crosby trade scenario?
A: For context, I included the video from Jay Glazer that has reignited the Maxx Crosby trade rumors. Basically, Glazer said that Crosby is upset about how last season ended with the Raiders putting him on IR and doesn’t want to be part of another rebuild at this stage in his career. Glazer also mentioned that he thinks the organization can get more for Crosby than what the Dallas Cowboys received for Micah Parsons, which was two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
That leads me to my answer: the optimal trade scenario for the Raiders is if they can strike a deal with the Cowboys.
Dallas has two first-round picks this year (Nos. 12 and 20) and one in 2027. Via the Quinnen Williams midseason trade, the New York Jets will get the higher 2027 pick depending on how the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers finish next season. That could complicate matters because Las Vegas would have to agree to take the higher/worse pick if Dallas isn’t willing to give up both of this year’s first, but my point here is that the Cowboys need an edge and have first-round picks to spare.
Plus, that would send Crosby to the NFC while giving the Raiders a couple of first-rounders to help rebuild, including at least one top 20 this year. If that’s on the table, Las Vegas can’t pass that up, in my opinion. I am and will always be a big Maxx Crosby fan, but the organization is looking at a two-year rebuild while he’s about to turn 29 and has ended the last two seasons on injured reserve with lower-body injuries.
If we’re being realistic, Crosby will be entering his age 31 season by the time Las Vegas is a legitimate Super Bowl contender. I get that he brings a lot to the team and locker room when it comes to being a leader, but the timelines don’t match up. What’s best for the future of the franchise is getting assets to help the rebuild and be part of the long-term plan.
Q: Why all the new Crosby news? Slow news cycle, or is he really demanding a trade? He seemed happy to be a Raider on a recent podcast.
A: Super Bowl week is definitely not a slow news cycle; it’s one of the busiest of the year. All of the big names in the media are in one location, players who aren’t even playing in the game are doing interviews all week, and that’s on top of the biggest game of the season going on over the weekend. It’s also the last major event before the offseason, so this is when a lot of trade rumors begin.
I’ll put it this way: someone is putting that information out there for a reason. Whether it’s the Raiders trying to put feelers out there to see what Maxx’s trade value could be or him using the media to force his way out, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Q: Is Jeff Stoutland even a schematic fit for Klint Kubiak’s outside zone scheme?
A: Yes.
Stoutland had been with the Philadelphia Eagles since 2013, so he’s worked with three different full-time head coaches (Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson and Nick Sirianni) and seven offensive coordinators (Pat Shurmur, Frank Reich, Mike Groh, Shane Steichen, Brian Johnson, Kellen Moore and Kevin Patullo). Considering the Eagles’ offensive line has been good throughout that time, I feel confident that Stoutland could adjust or coach players in any type of scheme.
Also, ESPN’s Tim McManus reported that the Eagles wanted to keep the offensive line coach under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, but Stout turned down the offer. Philadelphia brought in Mannion to run the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay-style of offense, which is the same coaching tree Kubiak comes from. So, the Eagles clearly think he can coach in that system.
Putting the pieces together, it seems like Stoutland and Sirianni had a falling out or were butting heads this year, leading to the former wanting out of Philly.
I have an article publishing on Saturday (it will probably be out by the time this goes live) that has more details on this, but the Raiders should do whatever they can to get Stout to Vegas. No one in the league is better at developing offensive linemen than him.
Q: With all of the Raiders’ cap space and draft picks, do you think they can rebuild rather quickly, especially since they are going to draft a franchise quarterback?
A: It can certainly help accelerate the process, but John Spytek seems pretty adamant about building through the draft rather than signing a bunch of free agents. The latter is how teams turn around quickly but also flame out quickly, while the former is a slower rise but better for building a sustainable winner in the long run. My optimistic but still realistic timeline for the upcoming rebuild is that it follows a similar path to the 2014 to 2016 teams.
The Raiders are going to be a young team next year that will most likely struggle at the beginning of the season before starting to figure it out in the second half of the campaign. Then, I can see them being competitive and on the fringe of making the playoffs in 2027, and becoming a legitimate contender in 2028.
From there, it’s a matter of avoiding the previous pitfalls that derailed the 2017 team and following seasons; the starting quarterback breaking his leg the prior year and never looking the same afterwards, locker room dysfunction, and constant turnover at head coach and general manager.
A: I’m pretty excited about the future in Las Vegas. These are famous last words, but it does feel like the stars are finally starting to align for the Silver and Black. They landed the No. 1 overall pick and then got arguably the top offensive-minded head coach whose scheme is a perfect fit for Fernando Mendoza. Now, the pressure is on for Spytek to hit on the rest of his draft picks, but I go back to last offseason, where he was widely considered one of, if not the top general manager candidate.
For the first time in a while, it feels like the Raiders have the right people in place and are getting good candidates rather than just settling for whoever will take the respective jobs. I haven’t been this excited for a head coach hire since Jon Gruden returned, and I’m being 100 percent genuine when I say that I see a lot of parallels between the build-up to the 2016 team with the situation the organization is heading into this offseason.
A: I touched on how Kubiak uses 12 personnel to manipulate defenses earlier this week (link), and Marcus and I did a deep dive into the scheme on the latest Tape Don’t Lie (link). That will have a more detailed explanation than what I can provide here.
A: Mike LaFleur didn’t call plays for the Los Angeles Rams when he was the offensive coordinator there; Sean McVay did. The only time LaFleur has called an offense was when he was in 2021 and 2022 with the New York Jets, and the Jets ranked 28th and 29th in points scored before he was fired.
Meanwhile, Kubiak was the Minnesota Vikings’ OC in 2021 and finished 14th in points scored, and the New Orleans Saints were 24th while dealing with quarterback issues in 2024. That’s on top of his success with Seattle this year, a successful tenure as the Vikings quarterbacks coach in 2019 and 2020, and a good stint as the San Francisco 49ers’ passing game coordinator in 2023. There’s a reason that the Arizona Cardinals didn’t hire LaFleur until it was announced that Kubiak was heading to Las Vegas.
While I certainly won’t give him all the credit for reviving Sam Darnold’s career and Kevin O’Connell deserves more praise for that, I think you’re downplaying Kubiak’s role in that situation.
Darnold’s resurgence started when he was a backup for the 49ers in 2023, the same year Kubiak was the team’s passing game coordinator, and they worked together extensively. Darnold said this week that the season in San Francisco and working with Kubiak were paramount for the quarterback’s rise over the last couple of years.
Also, don’t forget that at this time last year, many viewed that the clock was striking midnight on Darnold’s Cinderella story with how he finished the 2024 season.
Q: How much input will Kubiak have in free agency and the draft?
A: I get the sense that Kubiak will have a say in who the Raiders bring in this offseason, but Spytek will be making any final roster decisions. That’s how the general manager-head coach relationship should function, where the coach tells the GM what types of players he wants, and then it’s the GM’s job to find the players who are the best fits for what the coach is looking for.
Kubiak will definitely have input on the roster, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Raiders go after free agents who have played for him in the past, like former Saints and current Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. But at the end of the day, the roster is Spytek’s primary responsibility, and he will have the final say on any transaction.
A: Over The Cap only lists five impending free agents at fullback, and one of those is C.J. Ham, who announced he’s retiring. Also, I get the feeling the Denver Broncos are going to re-sign Adam Prentice, leaving the free-agent options to Patrick Ricard, Reggie Gilliam and Michael Burton. Ricard isn’t the type of athlete that Kubiak typically has at fullback, making Gilliam and Burton the top options on the open market, in my eyes.
As far as the draft goes, Indiana’s Riley Nowakowski makes a lot of sense given the connection with Mendoza. Nowakowski played tight end for the Hoosiers, but he fits the profile of someone who could switch to fullback in the NFL, being undersized at 6-foot-1, 249 pounds and a good blocker.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if Kubiak tries to use Michael Mayer in an H-back type of role, where Mayer spends time in the backfield and at tight end. That’s similar to how Kyle Shanahan uses Kyle Juszczyk in San Francisco.
Q: The Raiders need help at many positions, including O-Line, Edge, secondary, receiver, and linebacker. Given their draft position and cap space, which positions do you think they will address through the draft versus through free agency?
A: I think Las Vegas will use free agency to target offensive linemen because the organization is going to want to invest in proven commodities to make sure Mendoza is protected. Especially since the line already has several young guys in Jackson Powers-Johnson, Caleb Rogers, Charles Grant and DJ Glaze. In other words, the Raiders don’t necessarily need more youth in the trenches; they need guys that they can trust to keep the young quarterback upright.
I’d make a similar statement at wide receiver with Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton Jr. heading into year two, and I could see guys like Shaheed and Alec Pierce being targets in free agency.
Outside of those two position groups, I’d bet heavily on the Raiders using the draft to fill out the rest of the roster.
Q: Do you think going after a 25-year-old, 3-time Pro Bowler at center (Tyler Linderbaum) would be a good idea, and moving Jackson Powers-Johnson to guard?
A: Linderbaum is one of my top free agent targets, so I’d be 100 percent on board with this strategy. Granted, I do think JPJ is better at center than guard right now, but that can also be chalked up to him having more experience playing center. So, if Spytek and Kubiak think Powers-Johnson has a brighter future at guard and can develop him there, then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t make a strong push for Linderbaum next month.
A: Jim Schwartz is your guy, then. Schwartz is known for running a lot of man coverage and letting the defensive line pin their ears back to rush the passer rather than having strict gap assignments to stop the run. Additionally, anyone who has worked under Mike Macdonald in Seattle or Baltimore will likely employ a more aggressive scheme, rather than taking the “bend but don’t break” approach.
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
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