LAS VEGAS (AP) — Many Giants and Raiders fans want their teams to lose Sunday when they meet in Las Vegas, the reward for a loss being a clear shot at the top draft pick.
The players and coaches, of course, are not on board.
“I don’t give a (expletive) about the pick,” Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby said. “I don’t play for that. That’s not my job. My job is to be the best defensive end in the world, and that’s what I focus on every day and being a great leader and being an influence and on being that guy on a consistent basis for my team. The front office, the coaches, they do that.”
Las Vegas and New York have matching 2-13 records and nine-game losing streaks, both the worst in the NFL.
The Raiders long have been in search of a franchise quarterback who can change the trajectory of a team that has gone more than two decades without a playoff victory. Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza is expected to be the first QB drafted, and him going to Las Vegas would inject energy into the club and its fans.
The Giants getting the top pick would give Joe Schoen — or whoever succeeds him as general manager if ownership decides to fire him — the chance to trade down with a quarterback-needy team and stockpile assets after moving up to take Jaxson Dart late in the first round last year. They don’t have a third-rounder in the upcoming draft as a result of that deal.
We didn’t have to sell the farm to go up and get the quarterback,” Schoen said Dec. 2. “We were able to get him where we were, and it looks like that pick is going to pay off.”
Choosing first could mean little to both head coaches because there’s a better than average chance neither will be around to oversee the rebuild after this season. Mike Kafka has gone 0-5 since becoming the Giants’ interim coach, and Las Vegas’ Pete Carroll could become the third Raiders coach in three years to get fired.
“I’m not really that concerned about any of that, and I don’t think you want me to be,” Carroll said of the draft order. “We’re going to go play the best we can play and see what happens.”