Tag: Maxx Crosby

Von Miller on future with Buffalo Bills: ‘I want to be here’

Von Miller on future with Buffalo Bills: ‘I want to be here’

The 2025 offseason will be filled with important decisions for the Buffalo Bills that will steer the franchise going forward.

The team has 16 free agents to be mindful of this offseason, but one of the team’s most important decisions will be regarding a player already under contract.

Veteran and likely Hall of Fame edge rusher Von Miller’s future in Buffalo is largely up in the air.

His age (36 in March), recent injury history (2022 ACL and meniscus tear), and contract (owed $17.5M in 2025) make him a cut candidate for Bills general manager Brandon Beane.

Instead of paying a base salary of $17.5 million in 2025, the Bills could cut Miller and save about $8.5 million on the salary cap.

Miller addressed his future with the Bills following the team’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game:

“However long my key card works in this building, I’m gonna keep coming up in here and I’m going to keep coming in and trying to make [a Super Bowl] happen. I want to be here. I plan on being a Buffalo Bill for sure.”

Over his three years in Buffalo, Miller has appeared in 36 games and started in 11. He has 14 sacks over that time, with eight coming in 2022, zero in 2023 (recovering from knee surgery), and six in 2024.

His 2024 season got off to a rough start as he was hit with a suspension that sidelined him for four games early in the year. However, he played well in the second half of 2024.

He led the entire NFL in quarterback pressure rate after Week 13 (25.5%). He was playing only limited snaps, but he was playing at an elite level when he was on the field.

Now, the Bills are forced to make a decision on Miller, who was signed in 2022 in hopes of getting Buffalo “over the hump” and playing in the Super Bowl. With a couple more injuries and a few more years under Miller’s belt, his $17.5 million salary in 2025 doesn’t look great from a cap perspective.

If the Bills and Miller part ways, his replacement on the edge could come via a trade. Rumors of the Bills trading for a defensive end have been swirling since the season’s end, especially since Myles Garrett requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns. This left Bills fans wondering about the possibilities of Garrett in Buffalo, and even left tackle Dion Dawkins showed his best recruiting efforts to land the star edge rusher.

If Beane and the Bills are looking for a splash on the defensive line this off-season, Garrett, Maxx Crosby, and Trey Hendrickson are names to watch.

The Bills’ front office has plenty to work on regarding roster construction, but the decision with Miller seems like it would need to be one of the first dominos to fall.

Maxx Crosby appears on NFL Generations Saturday on ABC

The Raiders Pro Bowl edge rusher will talk ball with former NFL great Gerald McCoy.

Saturday morning at 9am (noon ET), Raiders fans can catch Maxx Crosby on NFL Generations. The aim of the show is to explore the evolution of football by connecting legends of the past with the stars of today, creating a unique bridge between different eras of the game.

This episode the legend will be Gerald McCoy, who played his final NFL game with the Raiders in 2021 following a ten-year career. He shared a team with Crosby for a season, even if they only briefly got to take the field together. Now Crosby joins McCoy to talk some football.

McCoy was known for his big personality, which is part of what made him such a great teammate. Crosby was entering his third season and his first Pro Bowl season, so no doubt McCoy had an impact on him and his career. It should be interesting seeing them catch up.

Cardinals linebacker recruiting top pass rusher in uncertain offseason

Mack Wilson thinks Maxx Crosby would look great in a Cardinals uniform.

The Arizona Cardinals badly need a top pass rusher off the edge. Linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. knows this after playing his first season with the team. He sees an opportunity for the Cardinals.

The Las Vegas Raiders are undergoing changes. They fired head coach Antonio Pierce and have hired former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll to replace him.

After years of losing, many speculate that defensive end Maxx Crosby could be looking to get out.

That’s where Wilson comes in. He recently reposted something Crosby had on social media, adding that Crosby would “look good it Cardinal Red.”

 

Crosby could become available and the Cardinals would of course look into it.

He has been selected to the Pro Bowl four consecutive seasons. He had 7.5 sacks in 12 games last season and 34.5 sacks over his last three seasons. He is 27 years old.

He has two years remaining on his contract and is due to make more than $22.2 million in 2025 and then more than $18.8 million in 2026, although he has no guaranteed money remaining on his deal.

With more than $70 million in cap space this offseason, the Cardinals can make this move.

We will see if Crosby actually becomes available and whether the Cardinals will be players in trying to acquire him.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Raiders 2024 season Ballers & Busters

Rounding up the best and worst aka the Ballers & Busters from the 2024 season.

We’re now a week since the final Ballers & Busters of the Raiders 2024 season. So, let’s round ’em up and put a bow on it with my season Ballers & Busters.

Ballers

Top Baller: TE Brock Bowers

No show here. The Raiders bread and butter on offense set all kinds of rookie, NFL, and franchise receiving records. And along the way was a Baller eight times and Top Baller twice.

DE Maxx Crosby

Even missing five games this season and being hobbled by his ankle injury ins several others, he was still named a Baller six times and a Top Baller twice.

DT Adam Butler

Butler stepped up big time in the absence of Christian Wilkins and proved himself quite valuable both against the pass and the run. Thus, he was named a Baller seven times and was never once a Buster.

WR Jakobi Meyers

He had his first ever 100-yard game, his second ever 100-yard game, and his first ever 1000-yard game this season. All while still doing his dirty work. Thus he was named a Baller six times and thrice a Top Baller. He had fans not missing Davante Adams all that much.

S Tre’von Moehrig

His best season was also his contract year. The Raiders played him up closer to the line of scrimmage a lot and sent him on a fair amount of blitzes. It turned out to suit him very well. He was named a Baller four times, three of those times he was Top Baller.

RB Ameer Abdullah

Injuries knocked out Zamir White and Alexander Mattison and it turned out to not be so bad for the Raiders. Abdullah carried the load and had a nose for the end zone. As a result, he was a Baller in five of his last six games of the. season. Strong finish for him as he makes the case for year 11,

Continue to the Busters…

NFL star Maxx Crosby joins BKFC ownership group

Las Vegas Raiders captain Maxx Crosby has long been a combat sports fan – and now he’s a part-owner.

Conor McGregor is no longer the only standout professional athlete on the BKFC ownership board.

NFL star [autotag]Maxx Crosby[/autotag] has joined the bareknuckle boxing promotion’s ownership, the promtoion announced Tuesday. Crosby is a starting defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders and serves as one of the team’s captains.

“Bareknuckle fighting is raw, real, and incredibly engaging for fans,” Crosby said in a written statement. “I have always been passionate about combat sports, and I see BKFC as a platform that not only showcases the incredible skill, talent, and athleticism of these fighters but also brings a unique and authentic experience to combat sports enthusiasts.”

A big combat sports fan, Crosby has aligned closely with UFC CEO Dana White, frequently attending events and appearing on UFC programming.

Crosby recently appeared on ESPN’s UFC Live and said UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell recently told him he could become UFC heavyweight champion if he gave it a shot.

While Crosby said he already has enough injuries that will likely prevent him from fighting inside the cage, he didn’t rule it out entirely.

Crosby, 27, is a four-time NFL pro bowler with two second-team All-Pro honors. He’s played seven NFL seasons, all for the Raiders.

Raiders 2024 year-end awards: Top newcomer, best position group, most disappointing addition, more

The 2024 NFL season is behind us. So, let’s take a look back and hand out some awards. Some of which will be good ones. Some…not so much.

The 2024 NFL season is behind us. So, let’s take a look back and hand out some awards. Some of which will be good ones. Some…not so much.

This was an easy choice. Bowers is not just the Raiders top rookie, he is arguably the top rookie in the NFL. He is a long shot for Offensive Rookie of theYear due to the existence of Jayden Daniels, but there is a case to be made that he should win it due to the historic numbers he put up this seasons including rookie TE receiving yards record (1194), rookie receptions record (112), and Raiders franchise single-season receptions record.

He was added for nothing and without a lot of fanfare. The round seven rookie was waived by the Colts in their final roster cuts and claimed by the Raiders. He started seven games for the Raiders down the stretch and looks like he could be a solid foundational piece on this defensive line considering he has three years left on his rookie deal.

Butler set out this season to show he could be an every-down player and he did that. He stepped up with the loss of Christian Wilkins and was the Raiders’ best interior defender, finishing with five sacks and career-bests in tacckles (65), tackles for loss (8) and QB hits (10).

Jakorian Bennett was the midseason winner of this award, but he went down with injury and missed the latter half of the season. He too is probably worthy, but Butler held up all season long and is thus deserving of the award in the end.

Being that Chaisson had never had NFL success before this season, one could argue he’s not “coming back” from anything. But being that there aren’t any other candidates for this award, we’re going to stretch that a bit. He was a former first round pick, so at one time he was highly regarded. He just never lived up to it with the Jaguars. The former LSU star edge rusher had as many sacks this season (five) as he did his first four seasons combined.

Gardner Minshew is a close runner-up here. But after seeing the improved numbers across the board under Luke Getsy’s replacement Scott Turner, it was clear Getsy was a big part of the problem. Not a big surprise, honestly. He was coming off a terrible season with the Bears and wasn’t the Raiders first choice for the job. And somehow he was still a great disappointment.

They lost their top player Christian Wilkins five games into the season. And yet somehow still managed to step up and carry the load. The combo of Adam Butler, John Jenkins, and Jonah Laulu gave the Raiders some solid work both in run defense and pass rush. With some good late season flashes from Zach Carter as well. Should they bring back Butler, teaming him up with Wilkins and Laulu could give the Raiders a very formidable front.

You could also go with “Only good game” as the title of this award. That win in Baltimore looks more and more like a fluke the farther down the line we get from it. Their other wins were against two of the worst teams in the NFL (Jaguars and Browns), one who had Deshaun Watson starting and the other two with backup QBs (Jaguars and Saints).

Somewhat interesting their worst game came the week after their best one. Though there were many contenders for the worst game. But looking back, the one that stands out is the one that started the collapse.

It was their home opening loss to the Panthers in which they never led and Andy Dalton led offense to put up 33 points in the first 47 minutes. After the game, Antonio Pierce had his infamous reactionary press conference in which he called out unnamed players for making “business decisions.”

Shortly thereafter, Davante Adams came down with a sudden and mysterious ankle injury. Then demanded a trade and eventually was sent to the Jets. That’s also when Michael Mayer left the team and didn’t return for more than a month. The team was in shambles the rest of the way.

They would “win” the next game against the Browns, but anyone who watched it saw Deshaun Watson hand that game to the Raiders on a silver platter. Then they went on a ten-game losing streak.

Some of the lowlights from that streak include the Rams game where the Raiders turned the ball over four times, the first Chiefs game where the running backs averaged less than a yard per carry, the Steelers game where Pittsburgh rattled off 26 unanswered, the Broncos who had a 100-yard pick six and put up 34 unanswered, and the Bengals game when the Raiders gave up scores on the first five drives — four of which went for touchdowns — and allowed a season-high 41 points.

And that was just the first five games of their ten-game losing streak. They failed to reach even 20 points in any of the five games after the bye week while turning the ball over nine times.

He finished third in the league in gross punt average (50.8) and garnered a few All Pro votes.

Yes, the best rookie has also been their best offensive player and their lone First Team All Pro. Jakobi Meyers had his best season, but he wasn’t nearly on the level of Bowers who the Raiders offense ran through.

He won AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the team’s come-from-behind win in Baltimore in Week two. He battled ankle injury for several weeks, then injured the same ankle later in the season, sending Crosby to injured reserve. He was still named to the Pro Bowl and no other Raiders defender is approaching his talents.

4 Raiders received AP All Pro votes

Brock Bowers wasn’t the only Raiders player to receive votes for the AP All Pro team. There were three others.

Friday, the Associate Press announced their All Pro First team. On that team was Raiders rookie TE Brock Bowers, who led all tight ends with 101 votes and 27 first team votes.

The next most votes went to 49ers George Kittle with 88 votes and 22 first team votes.

But there were three other Raiders players who also received All Pro votes. And they may not be the players you think.

For instance, Maxx Crosby received no votes. Despite being named to the Pro Bowl.

The three who did receive votes were LB Robert Spillane, P AJ Cole, and LS Jacob Bobenmoyer.

Spillane received five votes, with no first team votes. It was Zach Baun, Fred Warner, and Roquan Smith who led the way to be named to the First Team.

Cole received 18 votes with five First Team votes. Detroit’s Jack Fox got the nod with 62 votes.

Bobenmoyer received five votes with one First Team vote. While it was former Raiders long snapper Andrew DePaola who took home the honors with 60 votes.

2 Raiders make 2025 NFL Pro Bowl roster

Raiders DE Maxx Crosby and TE Brock Bowers both named to the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl roster.

The Pro Bowl rosters are out and the AFC team has a couple Raiders on it.

Maxx Crosby makes the roster despite finishing seventh in Pro Bowl fan voting. Apparently the fact that he finished third in the NFL in tackles for loss despite missing four games already was enough for the other 2/3 of the decision-making process to override the fan opinion. Which, honestly, is the right way to do it.

Brock Bowers has also been named to the team at tight end. He currently leads all NFL tight ends in catches (108) and yards (1144) and has not only broken the rookie TE yards record, but the rookie receptions record and the Raiders franchise single-season receptions record.

Not making the initial team was Robert Spillane, who finished fifth in Pro Bowl fan voting. He will still have the chance to make the squad as an alternate.

3 Raiders finish in top 10 by position in Pro Bowl fan voting

The final vote tallies have been released for Pro Bowl fan voting and three Raiders players are among the top ten at their positions.

Even though the 2024 season is not over yet, the fan voting is done for the Pro Bowl. The final tally has three Raiders players finish in the top ten at their respective positions.

TE Brock Bowers (2nd)
DE Maxx Crosby (5th)
ILB Robert Spillane (7th)

Travis Kelce finished ahead of Bowers at tight end despite Bowers currently besting him in literally every statistic.

Brock Bowers Travis Kelce
Games 16 16
Rec 108 97
Rec Yds 1144 823
YPC 10.6 8.5
TD 4 3

Not to mention Bowers is having a season for the ages breaking several rookie records already.

Crosby has missed four games this season and is still tied for third in the league with 17 tackles for loss. The four defensive ends with more votes than Crosby are all in the AFC. And with Crosby unable to accept an alternate spot, it may be tough for him to make the team this year.

Spillane is currently sixth in the league with 142 combined tackles (85 solo) and his seven pass breakups and two interceptions leads all linebackers. Two of the six inside linebackers with more votes than Spillane are in the AFC — Daiyan Henley and Roquan Smith.

Fan votes count for one third of the deciding factor in which players make the Pro Bowl. The final announcement of Pro Bowl rosters will take place on Thursday, Jan 2.

49ers should pounce if 2 disgruntled All-Pro DEs ask for trades

The 49ers can take a huge swing in the offseason on the defensive line.

The 2024 season didn’t go well for the San Francisco 49ers, but it did give the club a clear picture of how it needs to adjust its roster moving into the 2025 season to re-open its Super Bowl window.

One of the issues they’ll need to address in the offseason is their pass rush. They may be able to take a massive swing at that position with a pair of the NFL’s best pass rushers both expressing some discontent with their situations as the 2024 campaign draws to a close.

First, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was open about his desire to win and avoid the rebuild the Browns appear to be in line to undergo. He didn’t outright ask to be moved, but he did make it clear he’d prioritize winning.

“I want to stay loyal to a team that showed loyalty to me and faith in me by drafting me,” said Garrett. “But we have to do, at the end of the day, what’s best for us. So, if we have that alignment where this is something that is still possible in the near future — winning, going deep in the playoffs, putting a great defense out there … I think that would really keep my mind at rest and keep me settled.”

Garrett, a three-time All-Pro and the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year, has 12.0 sacks this season and has at least 10.0 in seven consecutive seasons.

He wasn’t the only star pass rusher to make noise about his situation though.

Maxx Crosby on The Rush podcast was less blatant about his potential exit, but he did commiserate with Garrett.

“It’s new coaches every other year, and this and this and that, and new teammates” Crosby said. “There’s been plenty of times where I’m like (expletive) this D-line is cold. And then I come back and every single one of them is gone, and it’s like what the (expletive). There’s a lot of things, and so it’s tough, bro. I feel for Myles because he’s in that same boat.”

Crosby also said he intends to have conversations with the Raiders in the offseason now that he has no guaranteed money left on his contract. He sounded further from the exit than Garrett, but it was clear there needs to be some changes with Las Vegas.

If the conversations between those two star edge rushers and their respective teams don’t go well, the 49ers should be first in line to offer up picks to acquire one of them. Their pass rush is too important to their defense to be as ineffective as it has been the last couple of years. Investing heavily at DE would be one quick fix to cure a lot of what ailed them in a dreary 2024 campaign.

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