Last Week in Las Vegas Sports (Mar 3 - 9)

Get ready for an action-packed edition of last week in Las Vegas sports (Mar 3 - 9)!

Highights

• Max Crosby signs historic deal with the Las Vegas Raiders





• Kyle Busch blasts NASCAR officials over the rules again





• Critics claiming Tom Brady might be doomed to fail

#3 Maxx Crosby signs historic new deal with the Raiders

Maxx Crosby is a critical part of the Las Vegas Raiders' defense, so the organization locked him down last week with a contract extension. The deal sees the Pro Bowler making $106.5 million and staying with the Raiders through 2027.

Crosby’s deal also gives him the highest salary of any NFL player who is not a quarterback. Raiders General Manager John Spytek spoke about the deal and the tone he hopes it sets.

"We want to grow this to a place that people want to be," Spytek said, "When Maxx -- and it's no secret it hasn't been sunshine and roses here -- makes a commitment to the Raiders and stands for everything [we] talk about, that speaks volumes. I hope it's noticed around the league."

Despite Crosby’s ankle injury in 2024, he racked up 45 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, and five patdowns in 12 games. This is a far cry from his 90 combined tackles and 14.5 sacks in 2023.

#2 Kyle Busch sounds off again

In the latest edition of Kyle Busch versus NASCAR, the Las Vegas native is again calling out the organization over rule enforcement. Busch is unhappy with NASCAR’s officiating of last week’s race at Circuit of The Americas.

“So yeah, I know, I’ve just been around a few guys that aren’t paying attention to candy stripes in Turn 6,” Kyle Busch said to reporters after the race at COTA. “They’re just jumping to the red asphalt and staying inside of them. So it’s very unclear as to what we’re supposed to do.”

NASCAR created these rules to prevent drivers from cutting corners and gaining an unfair advantage. Busch’s complaint comes only a week after NASCAR and Kyle Busch fought over the damaged vehicle policy that eliminated him from the race in Atlanta.

Cup Series Managing Director, Brad Moran, joined Sirius XM’s NASCAR radio to explain the official side of the situation and even admitted to an error.

“So we did fire out just to confirm we are not policing Turn 6. And then from that point on it played out well. But obviously, there was some confusion because we had a lot of teams that had no questions. And I think we had a few that had questions and that's our responsibility to make sure that all the competitors understand."

#1 Critic claims Tom Brady’s ownership could doom the Raiders

Tom Brady is calling the shots within the Las Vegas Raiders organization, but that might not be a good thing. Bill Simmons raised this point on his podcast last week when discussing athletes who go on to have bad careers as owners or coaches. He also cautions the Raiders from falling into the trap of thinking Brady automatically knows what he’s talking about.

“This is a dangerous thing where you have him running a football team thinking he knows what's best with quarterbacks because he was a great quarterback," Simmons said.

This news comes the same week the Las Vegas Raiders traded a third-round pick for Geno Smith. The thought behind this move might have been to reunite Smith with Pete Carroll, but it comes at the expense of better options.

The Raiders would have probably been better off chasing a guy like Sam Darnold or even Aaron Rodgers.

Smith finished the 2024 season with 4320 yards, 21 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, and a 93.2 rating. His 2023 is much more promising with a total of 3264 yards, 20 touchdowns, and only nine interceptions.