Breaking: Maxx Crosby says Coach threatened to cut him for unbelievably petty reason

Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby is one of the premier pass-rushers in the NFL.

However, he recently admitted during an appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast that his eagerness to prove himself as a rookie fourth-round pick during his first training camp in 2019 nearly cost him his job when Jon Gruden was coaching the team.

“He literally threatened to cut me on the middle of the field my first training camp,” Crosby said. “…It was like the second week of training camp, I swat a ball down and I’m [expletive] hype, celebrating, and he’s looking at me all irritated. Then it happens again — boom swat a ball down. And it happens at the end of practice for the third time. He’s like, ‘Stop swatting the [expletive] ball down. I’ll [expletive] cut your a-s, I swear to God.”

Crosby had four batted passes during his rookie season, which has since become a specialty of his as evidenced by the four or more batted passes he’s recorded in three of his five seasons.

The 26-year-old edge-rusher maintained that Gruden, an offensive-minded coach, would become irritated when defensive players wouldn’t allow the quarterbacks to have clear passing lanes during practices.

“He would get so mad about batting balls,” Crosby added. “Like in practice, doing team (drills) and he would refuse to let us bat the ball. I would tell him, ‘Why the [expletive] are we practicing not batting the balls, but in a game they’ll be doing the same [thing]?’”

Gruden was fired in 2021 after a New York Times report exposed a series of emails in which he used misogynistic, racist and anti-LGBTQ language. He blamed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for the leak and has since filed a lawsuit against the league.

Raiders Listed Among Favorites to Land Controversial $242 Million QB

The Raiders just went through a season in which they started off with an aging, past-his-prime and controversial quarterback—Jimmy Garoppolo—and it took them only eight weeks to regret the whole thing and sit Garoppolo on the bench. It might be daft to go out and try that same method all over again, but still, the Raiders quarterback job has been continually linked to 35-year-old Broncos flameout Russell Wilson.

And you can even lay some money on the possibility of Wilson landing in Las Vegas. At Draft Kings, the Raiders are the No. 2 favorite to land Wilson this offseason, getting odds of plus-250. The Falcons are the top favorite to wind up with Wilson, at plus-130, while a return to Denver—which sounds pretty well impossible considering the way the year unfolded for the Broncos—comes in at plus-250 as well.

The Raiders must at least have some interest in Wilson depending on how things shake out with his contract. The Broncos let Wilson know, he claimed, during the season that they were going to release him to minimize the financial hit on his monster contract going forward. That would make him a purely unrestricted free agent, and put the Raiders in position to sign him on the cheap.

Russell Wilson Was a Disaster With the Broncos

Wilson had a disastrous tenure in two seasons with Denver, which paid out a $242 million extension for him in addition to trading players (including quarterback Drew Lock), two first-round picks and two second-round picks to Seattle.

He went 4-11 in 15 starts with the team last year, and got off to a rocky start with new coach Sean Payton, who did not appear to be a Wilson fan from the moment he was hired in Denver before last year. Still, Wilson’s numbers this year (204.7 yards per game, 26 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 7-8 record) were not bad. He was benched to close out the year so that Denver could avoid certain contract guarantees that would have been triggered had he played.

The Broncos are looking at paying Wilson $39 million next season, essentially to play elsewhere.

The question for the Raiders or any team considering signing Wilson is whether the poor play in Denver was the sign of a quarterback who has been caught by age and is not going to get any better, or whether the problem with the Broncos was more a matter of a poor roster around him.

Multiple Options Likely at Raiders Quarterback

Still, Wilson could be a good option for the Raiders because they would not necessarily have to make him the starter. If they could sign him to a bargain contract after his release from Denver, Wilson could compete with incumbent starter Aidan O’Connell for the job next year.

O’Connell had his struggles in 2023 but did show some promise and could come back a more decisive, polished and, one hopes, mobile quarterback than he was last year. That could be a factor for the Raiders, because wriggling out of the $72 million contract they gave Garoppolo last year will be costly—$15.5 million in dead money this year, and $12.8 million next year.

If the Raiders have an O’Connell and Wilson competition, it would be a cost-effective way for the team to handle its quarterback situation while Garoppolo’s money sits on the books. O’Connell will carry a cap hit of just about $1 million next season.

Bringing in Wilson gives the Raiders a home-run swing with a solid insurance plan. If Wilson regains his old form, the Raiders could hit it big at QB. If not, though, they’ve still got O’Connell.