Adam Hill: Maxx Crosby deal proves competence of John Spytek, Raiders organization

Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Mar 10, 2026

Published in Football

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LAS VEGAS — It’s one thing to say the Las Vegas Raiders and general manager John Spytek won Friday’s blockbuster trade of star defensive end Maxx Crosby on paper.

They did.

Spytek turned a disgruntled veteran who has had eight surgeries in seven seasons and likely won’t be playing at an elite level by the time the team is ready to compete into two first-round draft picks that can help jump-start the rebuild.

Outcomes aren’t determined on paper, and the final verdict on the deal won’t be determined for several years when it’s revealed how much success the Ravens have with Crosby and how the draft picks gained in the swap turn out for the Raiders.

For now, however, the strange, unfamiliar scent emanating from Raiders headquarters in Henderson is called competence.

It might have been tough to identify for Raiders fans who are used to a different stench coming from the building.

It’s not that the Raiders won a trade.

It’s more about how they handled the process. And how they’ve handled this offseason.

They identified a coaching target and remained patient through the process, not panicking because they had to wait out a Super Bowl run.

Will Klint Kubiak be successful? Time will tell.

But the process was good. That feels different.

The Raiders have endured years of losing, but not losing enough to secure a high enough draft pick to change the franchise. They’ve gone through years of salary cap struggles that limited flexibility in the market.

This time, there was a commitment to securing the No. 1 pick. The cap issues have been cleared, and they have more offseason resources than any other team.

Rock bottom

While it would be easy to blame Spytek for the team hitting rock bottom last season, that narrative would miss the mark on two fronts.

First, no blame should be assigned to anyone for hitting rock bottom. Instead, credit should be given. It needed to happen.

More importantly, he made the best of an arranged marriage that was never a match from the beginning.

Spytek and Pete Carroll were a worse couple than Chris and Jessica from “Love Is Blind.” Seriously, is there a worse person on television than Chris? An entire column could be dedicated to this subject. Poor Jessica. And lucky Alex, who would be a hated villain if he weren’t so overshadowed by someone as deplorable as Chris.

Back to the point.

Nothing against Carroll, who is a legend in the sport, but it was never the right fit. Spytek and Carroll were on different timelines and that prevented Spytek from starting this rebuild a year ago.

It’s his show now, though, and it’s going as well as could be expected as Spytek is in prime position to lead a rebuild.

He has shown the traits of being the kind of leader who can pull it off.

Boring, but meaningful

The Crosby situation is the latest example. A discontented superstar fan favorite still in his prime could have derailed everything.

The situation could have gotten ugly, crushing any trade value.

But Spytek managed the situation well, seeking the best deal possible behind the scenes while making the right comments publicly. Eventually, he got a massive haul for a depreciating asset at the right time.

Competence.

It’s such a boring word and a low bar but such a meaningful trait for someone in this position and one the organization has struggled to clear in recent years.

Spytek has put himself in a great position to build something special. It’s only the start, and there is plenty of hard work still to come and plenty of land mines that will pop up.

But his navigation of the challenges that have been placed in front of him should inspire confidence from the fan base.

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