The Las Vegas Raiders have a chance to end their four-game losing streak against the New York Jets in Week 8. But we’re also less than two weeks away from the NFL Trade Deadline (Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 1:00 p.m. PST), which is the primary focus of this week’s mailbag. Let’s get to it!
Q: Would be interesting to hear your take on trading Maxx Crosby, Jackson Powers-Johnson, Kolton Miller, Isaiah Palo-Mao and Kirk Cousins? Seems like the right thing to do given the team’s realistic timeline.
A: I’ll start
with the elephant in the room. I was a strong proponent of trading Crosby in the offseason and still think it would be in the Raiders’ best long-term interests to get multiple high-end draft picks for the 29-year-old. I think two first-rounders is probably out of the question now, but it doesn’t hurt that Jeffery Simmons — who is the same age and was in the same draft class as Crosby — just got dealt for two firsts and a fourth, with a fifth going back to Chicago. Also, Simmons is only under contract for one more year than Crosby is.
So, I think John Spytek could get at least a comparable return for the edge rusher, and I don’t know how Spytek could say ‘no’ to an offer like that after the team’s playoff hopes came crumbling down this month. It doesn’t seem like Crosby is going anywhere, though, with Adam Schefter saying on Monday that “he means so much to that franchise” while pouring cold water on the trade talk/rumors. But if I’m calling the shots, I’m pulling the trigger if I can get at least a first- and a second-round pick for Crosby.
I touched on this last week; it feels like Powers-Johnson’s days in Las Vegas are numbered after getting benched. I don’t know if that happens ahead of the trade deadline, but barring a material change, I think JPJ will be shopped in the offseason. I liken it to Tyree Wilson from this past offseason, where a fresh start might be best for both sides, and don’t expect much more than a fifth-rounder in return.
I’m all the way out on trading Miller ahead of the deadline. I know he has regressed, but if the plan is to have Fernando Mendoza play at any point this year, I’m not trusting Charles Grant to protect Mendoza’s blindside. Grant has barely seen the field, and at least the coaching staff knows what it can get from Miller, who has been a good pass protector in the past and is still solid right now.
Could Grant be the long-term solution at left tackle? Sure, but turning the reins over to him now would be a massive risk, especially with a rookie quarterback/the future of the franchise. In the offseason, I could be convinced that it’s worth it to trade Miller because then the coaching staff has several months to get Grant ready and can bring in a veteran insurance policy in free agency. But midseason, trading Miller would be a bad idea, in my opinion.
If there’s an offer, Pola-Mao would be easy to part with since he’s just a backup and special teamer right now. I just don’t know if there’s much of a market for that, barring an injury over the next two weekends. If IPM gets dealt, don’t expect much more than a sixth- for seventh-round pick swap or just a seventh-rounder. Also, he’s an impending free agent, so I could see Pola-Mao getting waived after the deadline to make room for Dalton Johnson on the game-day active roster.
I feel like I’m in the minority on this, but I would rather see the Raiders hold onto Cousins even if Mendoza is playing. Trust me, as a draft freak, I love the idea of getting more picks. However, I think it reduces part of the rationale for having Cousins be Mendoza’s mentor if the former gets shipped away when the latter takes over.
I know that has to happen at some point, but I think it’s valuable for the rookie to have a peer as a sounding board when things go wrong during his first handful of starts. Especially since Cousins has seen it all in the NFL, and those two have been forming a big brother-little brother type of relationship over the last six months.
A: Well, as someone who watches and breaks down the Raiders’ defense every week, the past month was already pretty unwatchable, LOL! But to your point, if Crosby does get traded, that creates a need for an edge and adds to the already rather long list of needs. That’s why I wouldn’t make that trade for just one first-round pick, and the return would have to include multiple Top 100 selections.
The plan for a Crosby-less defense in Vegas would hinge on Keyron Crawford bouncing back from injury and at least proving to be a quality second edge defender since Malcolm Koonce is on a one-year contract and Kwity Paye is trending toward being a bust/role player. Then, that’s where the two picks come in because one can be used to find Crosby’s replacement or the second edge if Crawford fills that role, and the second pick fills a different need like defensive tackle.
Obviously, there are a lot of variables that can go wrong in there. But the defense has given up over 35 points per game over the last four weeks with Crosby on it. Several positions need to be addressed in the offseason, and he’ll be 30 in August. So, would you rather have a very good but aging player, or two chances to improve the team for the long haul?
It’s a matter of preference, and there’s a good amount of risk involved in either scenario. But, again, I’d take my chances if the right offer comes across the desk.
Q: Is it time to have a realistic discussion on Spytek?
A: I got a lot of questions about Spytek this week, with several people asking if (or outright saying) he should get fired. I get it, the Raiders need to get a lot more return on their offseason investments. There’s no denying that, and Spytek’s Day 2 picks have produced little to nothing. Darien Porter is the best one so far, and Porter hasn’t been able to hold down a starting spot.
But part of the reason why the organization can’t get out of the downward spiral that it’s been in over the last two decades is that there has been no stability when it comes to the head coach and general manager. Granted, the Raiders didn’t have a true GM until Reggie McKenzie was hired in 2012, but it’s not like Mark Davis has been patient with his decision-makers.
To be fair, McKenzie got seven years. But even he had a few dud offseasons before putting together the 2016 roster, which has been the franchise’s best team since making the Super Bowl over 20 years ago. To put it in perspective, the Raiders were 10-37 during McKenzie’s first three years. Then, he had a great draft in 2014 (Khalil Mack, Derek Carr and Gabe Jackson), signed some quality free agents (Rodney Hudson, Kelechi Osemele and Michael Crabtree), and hit on his 2015 first-round pick (Amari Cooper) to put together a quality roster.
The problem was that 2017 was a major disappointment, so Davis fired Jack Del Rio and hired Jon Gruden, which essentially stripped any power away from McKenzie and led to his firing a year later. In stepped Mike Mayock for three seasons until Gruden’s email scandal led to another leadership turnover, where Davis brought in the Josh McDaniels-Dave Ziegler duo for a season-and-a-half. That didn’t work out, so it was Tom Telesco’s turn for a year, only for Tom Brady to come in and hire Spytek.
At some point, the Raiders have to stick with a plan and ride it out, even if the road gets bumpy.
General managers — especially ones taking over bad teams/rosters, which is the majority of them — get hired because of the long-term plan they present to the owner, which typically is a three- to four-year vision. However, Davis hasn’t given a GM three seasons since Mayock, who was hired pre-COVID, and McKenzie is the only one of the five GMs Davis has hired to get four or more years!
Do I think it’s fair to say Spytek should face criticism and feel a lot of pressure right now? Absolutely. But this franchise needs stability, and firing a third general manager in five years would be a mistake. The other thing to consider is who is going to want the job if three people who previously held the position were given, at most, two years to turn it around. In my opinion, Davis, Brady or whoever is calling the shots have to give Spytek another offseason.
A: I agree with you. The offensive line has certainly been frustrating, especially since the rushing stats look about the same as last year. But the difference between the 2025 and 2026 lines is that last year’s was a total mess where several players were having bad games every week. Whereas this year, it’s one guy letting the whole group down more often than not.
Now, part of the problem is the letdown lineman changes every game. One week it’s Spencer Burford, the next it’s whoever is at right guard, then it’s Tyler Linderbaum or Kolton Miller’s turn. DJ Glaze is the only one who has been decently consistent. The other issue is that the offensive line is a position group where all five players have to execute to get results.
This is an extreme example, but if four out of five linemen get pancakes on one play and say one of the guards whiffs trying to block a defensive tackle, the run is probably going to be a TFL or a short gain despite 80 percent of the line doing their jobs at a high level.
All of this is to say I do think Vegas’ line has improved from last year; it couldn’t get much worse. They just have to be more consistent individually to improve as a group and start getting results.
A: Unless someone (preferably a couple of players) steps up and surprises us in the second half of the season, I don’t think much is going to change when it comes to the Raiders’ offseason needs. To be fair, it sounds like Trey Zuhn III is going to get a chance to start and prove himself, and I thought Tim Keenan had a decent game as a practice squad call up last week. But even if those two show promise down the stretch, the Raiders are still going to need another starting guard and an interior pass-rusher.
There’s still a lot of football to play, so I won’t completely close the door. However, all signs are pointing toward the trenches being a big point of emphasis in Las Vegas this spring.
A: At least one of those positions is going to have to get addressed in free agency, and I’d lean toward the two trench spots. I’ll be keeping my eyes on Moro Ojomo and Kobie Turner at defensive tackle, and Quenton Nelson (unless the Seahawks give him an extension, of course) and Kevin Dotson at guard.
Wide receiver could get tricky because the Raiders are going to have to pick in the top three to get Jeremiah Smith, and that still might not be enough because Smith is good enough to be the first wideout taken No. 1 overall since Keyshawn Johnson in 1996. Also, the rest of the draft class has been fairly disappointing, making it difficult to find a true “first-round talent”. However, Charlie Becker has maintained his value, and it would be intriguing to reunite him with Fernando Mendoza.
Ultimately, it’s going to depend on where the Raiders are drafting and how the rest of the College Football season plays out. So it’s a little early for this type of question. However, generally speaking, I think Vegas needs to prioritize the trenches in the offseason before addressing the skill positions.
That’s killing both sides of the ball more than the wide receivers or defensive backs are, and it is trending that there will be some decent Day 2 options in this year’s wideout class. It just doesn’t have as much top-end talent as many (including myself) thought there would be heading into the fall.
Q: Is Quay Walker actually just bad?
A: For some context, I’ve noted in winners and losers that opposing offenses have been targeting Walker in coverage and having a lot of success over the last few weeks, and I broke down what that looked like against the Rams on the Tape Don’t Lie review of the game.
Walker is playing well as a run defender, currently owning a career-high 71.4 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus that ranks 25th among linebackers this season. And he’s typically fine in man coverage, where he can lean on his natural gifts and doesn’t have to think as much.
However, the former first-round pick’s awareness/instincts in zone coverage are the primary reason why he hasn’t lived up to his draft potential, and that’s reared its head over the last few weeks. Also, he has a bad habit of not plastering to his man on scramble drills.
When the Raiders signed Walker in free agency, I was hopeful that he’d start to put it together in year five and that reuniting with Nakobe Dean would take enough off the former Packer’s plate since Dean wears the green dot and takes control of getting the defense set in Las Vegas. But that hasn’t made a difference, as Walker’s issues in Green Bay traveled with him to Vegas.
Now, he’s still only 26 years old, and we still have half a season left to play. So, there’s time for him to bounce back and improve down the line. However, it certainly isn’t comforting to see that a $13.5 million per year linebacker’s biggest weakness still exists and hasn’t gotten any better.
A: It’s kind of funny; typically, this question is the other way around, where running out of the shotgun isn’t as effective. But that’s just how backward the Raiders’ rushing attack is, where I’m sitting here saying: “Why not try it?” LOL! It can’t get much worse!
That being said, I think it would break every fiber in Klint Kubiak’s body to run out of the shotgun. It isn’t in his DNA, literally, since Gary Kubiak was a big under center coordinator/coach, too. Outside of draws, I feel like I’ve seen the Raiders run the ball from the gun like twice this year. I’m probably exaggerating there a bit, but the team does rank 21st in shotgun usage (including pass plays) according to Sumer Sports.
In other words, I’d be surprised to see it, but Kubiak might as well try to mix it up because what he’s currently trying isn’t working.
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 SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
