The Las Vegas Raiders did a lot of things wrong last offseason, but perhaps the most baffling decision was giving Chip Kelly a three-year, $18 million contract. While he’s had plenty of success at the college level, it had been a long time since he whiffed success in the NFL.
At first, many thought it was a clever hire for the Raiders, but it became clear almost immediately that he wasn’t the right fit. The team had the worst offense in the NFL in 2025, and Kelly was fired halfway through the season. Coaching contracts are guaranteed, so Kelly is going to see all that money.
According to The Athletic’s Mike Silver, Kelly’s coaching style was bizarre, and he wouldn’t interact with players at halftime.
“Among other oddities, Kelly employed a coaching style that felt relatively distant by NFL standards, delegating many of his gameplan tasks to assistants,” Silver wrote. “During some games, for which he was stationed in the upstairs coaching box, Kelly refrained from addressing the Raiders’ offensive players in the locker room at halftime, allowing his assistants to convey any schematic adjustments.
“Kelly was fired in November after the Raiders fell to 2-9, a little more than two weeks after Carroll had dismissed special teams coordinator Tom McMahon. Other than that, it was a pretty stable operation.”
Raiders Should’ve Been More Wary of Kelly
In hindsight, giving Kelly that type of money is almost indefensible. He hadn’t called NFL plays in a decade and was even struggling at the college level.
He stepped down as the head coach at UCLA to take an offensive coordinator job at Ohio State. Yes, he won a National Championship with the Buckeyes, but the offense was so loaded with talent.
Kelly had many issues with players during his brief time in the NFL. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that he continued to have issues when he returned.
Silver Offers Maxx Crosby Update
Silver’s nugget about Kelly was a little insight into a bigger piece about the future of defensive end Maxx Crosby. Trade rumors surrounding the Pro Bowler are heating up, and it looks like there’s a real chance that he gets traded.
Silver noted that the Raiders want at least two first-round picks for Crosby, which teams are apprehensive about getting. However, Silver thinks that in the end, there is enough interest around the NFL that the Raiders will eventually get an offer that they’re happy with.
“That said, there’s little doubt that at least some of these suitors value Crosby enough to make it worth the Raiders’ while,” Silver wrote.
“Crosby hasn’t made a stink publicly, partly because of his deep affection for the Raiders’ fan base, but it’s clear that he has exhausted all efforts in Vegas. He’s had a new boss every 12 seconds, with one winning season out of seven to show for it. Including Rich Bisaccia, who took over for Gruden on an interim basis for the final three months of the 2021 season, Crosby has played for five head coaches; Kubiak would be his sixth.”
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