If there’s one team that stayed quiet last season but is making all kinds of noise this offseason, it’s gotta be the Las Vegas Raiders. First, they brought coaching legend Pete Carroll to helm the ship, aiming to inject some of that championship mojo. Then, they tapped John Spytek as the new GM, hoping his keen eye for talent would be the franchise’s secret weapon. But let’s be honest, the real headline everyone’s waiting on? Their defense, especially the juggernaut, Maxx Crosby.

But we’ll talk about Crosby a little bit later. Because, just when you think the Raiders might be locking down Crosby with a new deal, boom—they hand out a contract extension… just not to him. Yeah, you read that right. Recently, the Las Vegas team hit up their official ‘X’ handle and announced that the team re-signed the safety, Isaiah Pola-Mao.

According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the contract extension is a two-year deal worth $8.45 million. Looks like the team doesn’t want Pola-Mao to leave Las Vegas. I mean, the guy went undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft before the Raiders signed him as an undrafted free agent. Sure, the team waived him coming out of the preseason, after appearing in just a couple of games.

However, they decided to re-sign him on the practice squad. Since then, the fourth-year safety has been in and out of the Raiders‘ roster and now, here we are. The 25-year-old was all set to hit the free agency in 2025 and set to be an unrestricted free agent. BUT! Pola-Mao decided to return to Las Vegas before hitting the free agency market.

Talking about his last season with the team. The guy played all 17 games in the regular season and tallied 89 total tackles, one sack, five pass defenses, and two forced fumbles. Let’s just say, it’s pretty enough to get a two-year contract extension worth over $8 million. However, we’re yet to get an update on Maxx Crosby’s future with the Raiders.

Is a contract extension on cards for Maxx Crosby?

Maxx Crosby’s contract extension is getting more buzz than the Las Vegas Sphere—and that thing literally changes colors every night. The edge rusher signed a contract extension worth $94 million back in 2022. Now that just a couple of years are remaining in his contract, but no guaranteed money, Crosby’s surely looking for a contract extension.

As per the reports, the Raiders’ fans finally can get good news about Crosby’s future in Las Vegas. Recently, Las Vegas Raiders On SI beat writer Hondo Carpenter revealed that the team’s planning for a potential contract extension for the edge rusher. “I’ve told you guys … as of late that Maxx absolutely believes in what the Raiders are doing and would like to be a part,” Carpenter said. “However, I now have been told by somebody inside the organization that in their financial planning, the Raiders are planning on Maxx returning which means he is going to get a massive deal.” 

Umm, that’s kinda predictable if we’re being real. I mean, the guy was screaming throughout the last season that he wanted to be a Raider for life. Besides, Crosby is absolutely one of the best edge rushers in the league and the Las Vegas team surely doesn’t want to move on from him. With that being said, no matter if the contract extension is delayed, it’s pretty much certain that Maxx Crosby’s gonna be with the Raiders.

Carpenter further stated, “Now, could something happen? Could Maxx decide,’Yeah, I don’t want that?’ He could, but I’m not expecting that in the least bit. I believe that he is absolutely on board with what is going on, I know ideally that he’d love to stay here. That’s what he would like. And I’m being told that the mindset within the building is that they’re financially laying out what they are going to do or what their thinking is with their plan now that they just got a better look at the salary cap numbers.”

Speaking of their salary cap space, the Raiders have over $90 million in cap space in 2025. That means we can expect the team to prioritize securing a long-term deal for Crosby. After all, this deal’s gonna help them in improving their D-line in the upcoming seasons. Besides, they’ve been looking for that Lombardi for years now. So, they gotta crack a deal before it’s too late.