And he will be happy with whatever decision is made.
Having recently agreed to terms with the Magpies to play for at least one more season, Maxwell plays his 100th game as captain on Saturday night at the Swans.
"I have been open and honest the whole way and said 'As soon as you guys think there is someone better placed to do the job, hand it over to them'," Maxwell told AFL.com.au.
Maxwell said that the club was well placed with prospective captains in Scott Pendlebury and Luke Ball on the leadership group.
Ball captained St Kilda in 2006-07 and Pendlebury is, according to Maxwell, "ready whenever".
Pendlebury, 25, would seem a near certainty to be the Magpies' next captain with Maxwell saying he was "the obvious one" to take over.
The club has also spent the past two years developing the next generation of leaders such as Dayne Beams, Ben Reid and Jarryd Blair as it makes the transition between eras.
"I have shown that I can do it and can do it to a standard they can expect, but I am also conscious that if next year was my last year, I could obviously offer a lot of support to whoever it was who took over," Maxwell said.
"For me it is a decision for the club to make. As I have said all along, if they want me to do it, I'm more than happy to do it."
Maxwell, 30, said it wasn't obvious whether it was better to throw a new skipper into the deep end, or to have the previous skipper around for a year or two to lend support.
Maxwell became captain in 2009 when skipper Scott Burns retired at the end of 2008.
"I learned a lot from having to take it on myself," Maxwell said. "There is also that element to it where it can be a bit of a shock to the system when you have got so much more to do, but it forces you to step up and grow up and understand it all."
Maxwell indicated he was a strong chance to remain at Collingwood when his playing career finished, leaving him available to advise the next captain, in any event.
Pie leaders: Dayne Beams, Scott Pendlebury, Nathan Buckley, Nick Maxwell and Luke Ball. Picture: AFL Media
Peter Ryan is a reporter with AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_PetRyan
