Scott Gulbransen
The Las Vegas Raiders’ voluntary veteran minicamp runs April 21-23, two days before the NFL Draft kicks off in Pittsburgh. Nobody has to show up. That’s the whole point of calling it voluntary.
Which is exactly why it matters so much who does.
Klint Kubiak is a first-year head coach inheriting a roster that went 3-14 last season. He needs to know who’s bought in before a single regular-season snap is taken. Players know this, too. Showing up to a voluntary camp in April, right before draft weekend, when the entire football world is looking elsewhere, is a statement. So is staying home.
Here are five Raiders whose April attendance will tell us far more than anything said in a press conference.
1. Maxx Crosby
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. Crosby showed up for Phase One workouts on April 7, which was encouraging after everything that went down with the voided Baltimore trade. But Phase One is meetings and lifting. The minicamp is different. It’s on-field work and Crosby is still recovering from knee surgery in January to repair a torn meniscus.
His agent has said he’s ahead of schedule. If Crosby is on that field April 21-23, even in a limited capacity, it sends a message to this locker room that goes well beyond his physical recovery. It tells every player on this roster that the guy with the most to complain about is still the first one through the door. That’s the kind of leadership Kubiak cannot manufacture. Either Crosby provides it, or he doesn’t.
2. Tyree Wilson
This is the one I’m watching most closely. Tyree Wilson is entering a contract year after the Raiders almost certainly won’t pick up his fifth-year option. His draft stock coming out of Texas A&M was sky-high — No. 7 overall in 2023 — and it’s fair to say his first three NFL seasons haven’t matched that billing. He’s a rotational piece right now in a 3-4 defense that just added Kwity Paye and still has Crosby at the top of the depth chart.
Wilson showing up to a voluntary minicamp under a new defensive coordinator, with his roster spot and his future on the line, would tell me he understands the moment. Staying home would tell me the opposite. With Rob Leonard installing a scheme that requires buy-in at every level of the front seven, there’s no hiding at this minicamp for anyone competing for snaps.
3. Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins is getting $20 million fully guaranteed to be the bridge in front of Fernando Mendoza. He reunited with Kubiak, his former coordinator, and he’s said all the right things publicly since signing. But what Cousins does over the next few months, before Mendoza is even in the building, will define how that quarterback room actually functions in 2026.
Showing up next week and throwing to receivers, working through Kubiak’s system, getting comfortable in a new offense and a new city — that’s the veteran leadership the Raiders are paying him for. Cousins knows how to be a professional. This is where he proves it matters to him in Las Vegas, the same way it did everywhere else.
4. Brock Bowers
Brock Bowers came back from a PCL injury last season and still managed 64 catches, 680 yards, and seven touchdowns in 12 games. He’s 22 years old and already one of the best tight ends in football. This minicamp isn’t about Bowers proving anything — it’s about him and Cousins starting to build the chemistry that makes Kubiak’s offense actually work before training camp in July.
Kubiak is an offensive coach who loves his tight ends. Bowers is the most important offensive weapon on this roster. Those two building a connection early — in April, before most teams are anywhere close to that kind of work — is the kind of head start that pays off in September. Bowers showing up matters. A lot.
5. Jackson Powers-Johnson
Here’s the one that might surprise people. Jackson Powers-Johnson was a second-round pick in 2024 who started the season on injured reserve after breaking his fibula in training camp. He came back and played solid football in the second half of the year and the addition of Tyler Linderbaum at center now gives the Raiders arguably the best interior of the offensive line they’ve had in years.
But Linderbaum and Powers-Johnson have never played together. Cousins has never played behind either of them. The April minicamp is the first real opportunity for that unit to start operating as a group, even in a non-contact setting. Powers-Johnson being present and engaged, working through alignments, and getting comfortable with Linderbaum next to him are matters for an offensive line that was historically bad in 2025 and has to be dramatically better for this offense to function.
The draft gets all the attention April 23-25. But what happens April 21-23 in Henderson matters just as much for where this team is headed. Voluntary doesn’t mean unimportant. In Kubiak’s first year, it means exactly the opposite.
Related: Las Vegas Raiders 2026 NFL Draft: 5 Key Takeaways From John Spytek’s Pre-Draft Press Conference
