FEBRUARY 7: The belief around the league is that Crosby “would be highly interested in pursuing a change of scenery,” Dianna Russini of The Athletic writes. The Raiders would indeed demand a significant return, but they won’t force Crosby to stay if he wants out, according to Russini. As of now, an offseason trade seems like a strong possibility.
FEBRUARY 5: The dustup between Maxx Crosby and the Raiders regarding his injury shutdown brought considerable awkwardness, and teams around the league monitored the situation closely. That is likely to continue.
As Klint Kubiak will soon prepare to transition from Super Bowl play-caller to one of the architects behind the latest Raiders rebuild, he will soon be briefed on the Crosby situation. We heard last month a Crosby trade would be in play, and Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reinforces that. Crosby is likely done in Las Vegas, according to Glazer, who indicated during an appearance on Yahoo Sports Daily the injury issue last season and the prospect of another Raiders rebuild will likely push the eighth-year edge rusher to seek a trade.
The Raiders would want to keep Crosby, per Glazer, who would expect any trade to unfold before the draft. A Crosby trade would arm the Raiders with considerable draft ammo, but it is important to note the player is more eager to find an exit door than the team is to accommodate him. That could lead to an impasse, but the Crosby trade watch continues as the 2025 season wraps.
As many as 20 teams contacted Glazer after the contentious injury shutdown occurred. With Crosby displaying elite form in 2025, the Raiders would certainly ask for a first-round pick and then some ahead of the All-Pro’s age-29 season. The Raiders are not strangers to holding multiple first-round picks in a draft, but they squandered opportunities upon trading Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. A new regime would be tasked with making a two-first-rounder draft pay off — in the event Crosby is moved before this one.
Pete Carroll was believed to be against a Crosby shutdown, moving the blame/credit (as the Raiders secured the No. 1 overall pick) on the front office. This stands to benefit Kubiak, who will soon be coaching (barring a shocking course change) Fernando Mendoza and either have Crosby ready for an eighth season or a substantial picks package in exchange for trading the standout edge rusher.
The Raiders’ Carroll-Tom Brady-John Spytek regime extended Crosby last March, pushing his contract through 2029. Two years remained on the deal Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler authorized in 2022, and Crosby secured a $35.5MM AAV on his new pact. The Raiders would not be significantly affected by dead money, despite having paid Crosby recently, in the event of a trade. The contract includes a $30MM base salary for 2026 that would be transferred to an acquiring team. Rather than load up the deal with signing bonus money that would go on Las Vegas’ cap in the event of a trade, this regime made Crosby’s guarantee consist mostly of 2025 and ’26 base salaries.
Frontloading the contract will make it easier to move, pointing to this Raiders regime having a potential trade in mind when it structured the deal. If the Raiders trade Crosby, they would only be on the hook for his 2026 signing bonus proration ($5.1MM) in dead money. That represents an opportunity if Brady and Spytek want to go down this road.
When the shutdown happened before Week 17, Crosby “vehemently disagreed” with the decision. With Glazer reporting the edge rusher’s displeasure with the Raiders’ decision, it is not too hard to connect dots here. A report then indicated Crosby would evaluate his future in Vegas, and a video of him playing basketball and jumping on a trampoline despite an injured knee represented a clear message to the Raiders. The team, which also placed Brock Bowers on IR before a Week 17 loss to the Giants, had incentive to lose and completed the mission — a goal Crosby did not share.
Glazer pointed to a Micah Parsons-like return for Crosby. Las Vegas two first-rounders would be a bit of a surprise considering Parsons was heading into his age-26 season. But, as referenced above, Crosby is signed through 2029 on a contract that has since been dwarfed by Parsons and Aidan Hutchinson. That would be attractive to contending teams.
A bidding war would obviously benefit the Raiders, but we have seen these situations resolved peacefully in the recent past. Myles Garrett went from saying he was done in Cleveland to signing a four-year, $160MM extension. With the Raiders already paying Crosby, money may not resolve this matter. But no trade request has emerged. The Raiders have also refused to part with Crosby at recent trade deadlines, with Mark Davis confirming his top player’s unavailability at the 2024 deadline. The Patriots and Seahawks asked about Crosby before his extension last year. It does appear now, however, that Raiders fans need to prepare for the prospect of one of the best defenders in franchise history being moved soon.
Best spots(cap not being factor):
1. Bears
2. Bills
3. Patriots
4. Colts
5. Commanders
Even if you ignore cap, draft capital will knock out Indy and probably DC.
Dc has cap tho
Raiders wouldn’t trade Crosby just to dump salary. They would want serious draft capital, and I don’t think DC can afford to do that. Hendrickson makes more sense there.
Hmmmm I see your point.
DC has the #7 pick. That’s a heck of a start.
Washington doesn’t pick again until 71 and not until 145 after that, with only five picks total, and It’s already an old team very short on rookie contract talent and draft picks. I don’t think they can afford to make a trade like that.
They can add next year’s #1 instead of current year picks. GMs under pressure sometimes make decisions that are not in the long-term interest of the team. We to shop in a place where the GM thinks he will be fired if he doesn’t win, and/or a place where the owner has outsized influence on FB decisions, and/or a bad team with a coach that thinks next year’s #1 will be the overall #20, not the overall #7.
I can’t imagine the Raiders trading Crosby without getting a package that includes at least one high round pick this year.
@Oooof. I think a 1st and a third is his price. Plus the #7 would probably get it done. That could be arvell reese.
I think Vegas would be very interested in #7. I don’t think a team as lacking in youth and draft picks as Washington can afford to do that.
Also I highly doubt Reese gets to 7.
@Oooof. Yeah that was probably with moore entering the draft. I saw mocks with Reese being the third edge off the board, but now it’s flipped back to how it was a couple months ago. Idk I could see Bain going first. He has good tape, and was a menace in the playoffs.
I could see Bain going second to the Jets, but I think the Cardinals and Titans are also candidates to take Reese. It’s possible Arizona takes a lineman, the Titans take Tate, and Reese is still on the board at 7. It just seems very unlikely.
Not sure how the Ravens aren’t on this list considering they’re win now and arguably their biggest hole is pass rush.
Do ravens have the money? I thought Lamar was in extension talks?
I don’t know if Baltimore has thought of this yet, but if Trey Hendrickson wants a chance to beat the Bengals twice a year, the Ravens are his only option. Cleveland won’t have the cap space after paying Myles Garrett, and the Steelers already have T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, & Nick Herbig.
As a Bills fan, I’d love to see him in Buffalo, but they’re in cap hell pretty much every year, and I suspect they’ll want to re-sign Bosa.
Good point I forgot how bad their cap was
Cap hell is a relative thing these days with experts predicting the Bills could shake out $60-70 million more from restructuring contracts.
@sherminator. Cap hell is a term the saints made. feels like they’ve had cap issues for 15 years.
New England is the only team on that list that makes sense. Chicago and Buffalo are in the red right now for salary cap and Washington and Indy are short on picks.
I’m guessing he will go to one of these teams.
TENN
NE
CINCY
ARIZONA
NY-JETS
TB
Two of those teams need quarterbacks, so they need to keep their powder dry. Cincinnati is hard to see importing an unhappy high priced veteran. Tampa, New England, and Tennessee are all intriguing, though.
Tennessee has the money this year I could see that
Bad guess IMO. Philly jumps in.imo
One and done FA season then? Not going to leave much for draft picks or anybody else. It’s not a cap friendly contract.
Typical whiney player. ‘PAY ME!!!!’ followed by ‘Trade me!!!!’. As if he didn’t know the Raiders have been awful for well over 20 years? This contract shows exactly why the Raiders do nothing; poor ownership.
From google: Over the past 25 years (2001–2025 seasons), the Las Vegas Raiders have struggled, compiling a combined regular-season record of approximately 152-253.
He was whining to play too
He was injured and the Raiders were protecting his value. Only smart thing the Raiders did involving Maxx over the past few seasons.
Yeah, but in Crosby’s defense, you did refer to his attitude, arty. Wanting to play despite having nothing to gain is a great testament to Crosby’s character.
As a Raiders fan, I love the dude. But even if we get as lucky as humanly possible, we’re 2 years away. But probably 3-4 years. Better for both sides to move on.
I’m not buying into this until I hear Maxx say he wants to be traded. This has been an ongoing saga for the past few years due to how bad the team has been, and every time it hasn’t come to fruition. He loves being a Raider and he wants to win. With a legit offensive mind coming to town armed with a capable franchise quarterback to follow, things don’t seem as bleak as they have in previous off-seasons. He’s a gamer and wanted to play, but with nothing to play for (other than playing badly to secure the #1 pick), the team made the best decision for both him and the team long term. Really hoping this is just more smoke without fire, this man should play his entire career with the Raiders and go into Canton one day in silver and black.
I’ve been a die hard Raiders fan since I was born in the 80s & was also a Rams fan & Eric Dickerson was my favorite player growing up as a kid, when the Rams moved to St. Louis that was to far, so I just stayed loyal to the Raiders.
The Raiders have been such a horribly run franchise for basically 25 years now & lost or traded away all my favorite Raiders, if they trade Maxx Crosby it will be the straw that broke the camels back & ow that the Rams are back in my hometown I’ll switch one of my favorite professional teams for the 1st time in my life
Man I feel you, I jumped ship from the jets this year. It’s pretty liberating, but feels strange. Only time I’ve ever switched to a different team other than NBA back in the day when the Nets left NJ. Pissed me and my family off as NJ natives (F Jay Z), but i don’t even care about the NBA anymore
I can’t even fathom being able to switch teams, regardless how bad they are. Like I don’t think it’s even physically possible for me. Which sucks cuz I’m a Raider/ Angel fan (crying) lol
During my contemplation I asked some others for their opinion, and my boss put it this way. Why are we so loyal to these teams who are owned by billionaires who don’t give two craps about us? Woody Johnson is probably the worst owner in the game and he has given many reasons to abandon the franchise.
One of the last straws for me was that he canceled an invite to a lifelong-fan school teacher (who goes to games to honor her late-father) to kick in a $100K field goal challenge due to the fact that she is the varsity coach of a HS soccer team. So Woody Johnson the billionaire is so afraid he’s going to lose $100K to a HS teacher/coach that he creates this PR nightmare?
The team is a joke, the coach is a joke, the org is a joke, and the owner is the biggest joke of them all (while raising prices to watch these crap teams). Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
That’s so weak. You soft as charmin. Not surprised you’re also a Yankee “fan”.
Not surprised you’re an idiot. My whole family are Yankee fans and I grew up in North Jersey
Embarrassing. Jumping teams is a beta/cuck move. I hope your family is disappointed in who you’ve become.
Embarrassing is how you act online, judging by your Gen Z insults youre some unsuccessful, sad troll kid who couldn’t respond to a well thought out opinion with anything other than insults. You can rest uneasily knowing my family is not disappointed in the person I am lmao what a joke
Beta, through and through. Tell us again how “liberating”… but “strange” it feels to jump ship. We are all ears.
Jerry Jones on line 1
Lions
Great in theory.
Not happening.
Yeah, even if doesn’t, though, Detroit really needs a second elite pass rusher, and fast. They’re looking to have two QB centric offenses already to contend with in a high stakes division, and Minnesota is going to be another if they can find a fit. The Lions are in a window that could close quickly if they don’t find a way to consistently slow those high volume rivals, and pass rushers are extremely important for their ability to do so.
Hes a patriot
Don’t think Dallas can make it work. With Pick getting franchised and so many holes on defense to fix, it wont happen. Even tho Dallas has the picks to get it done it wouldn’t work under the current and future salary cap. Now, I’m no expert on the cap so maybe there could be a way. Atm I just dont see it.
The Cowboys can generate over 100 mill in Cap space with restructuring 5 contracts(Dak and Ceedee being the Big Two)and releasing a couple players…
They can reduce Clark and save money while keeping him…restructure Williams and save money…
They can also sign Pickens and J Williams if the price is right…
Soo I don’t the Cap Space would be a problem for the Cowboys if they decide to go after Crosby…and we know they have the draft Capital…
Hard to blame him if he wanted out after he wanted to play at the end of the season and they clearly exaggerated an injury to put him on IR instead.
Going to be like Myles Garrett, just throw the money and he will change mind.
There’s a rumor on Boston sports radio that Maxx has stated to someone in the media that he would like to play for Mike Vrabel. If there’s any truth to that, now is the time to get him as Maye will still be on his rookie contract for another 2 years and even after a 2025 free agent spending spree, the Patriots will have a ton of cap space available to spend for the upcoming 2026 season. We would love to see Crosby bring his talent to Foxboro for the 2025 Super Bowl champion Patriots (fingers crossed)!
Dorothy Mantooth was a saint!
As many as 20 teams contacted Glazer after the contentious injury shutdown occurred.
Why are teams contacting the talking heads to get the inside info?
Bears fans are screaming for him lol.
Yeah but we can’t afford him. Without gutting draft picks and Becoming he NO Saints pay it down the road nightmare. So hard pass. Rather try and draft a guy like him. Or at least somewhat like him.
I don’t want him on the bears. So hope it doesn’t happen. But he’s the kind of player and played the position. Even at his age. That you sell the farm for if you are a contender.
hard pass on Crosby is insane. Bearmeat is right (for once), you give up the farm for a player like this when you think your Super Bowl window is open.
One man isn’t going to make a difference. Look the Bears made strides. But they capped out to do it. They still need more pieces and Cap Space. Signing one guy and losing the draft picks and money isn’t going to help. Besides the Bears pas rush needs more help up the middle of the Dline than the Edge. The draft this year is going to D centric anyway. Rather get more help for Allen that way. If they lose Edmunds who doesn’t fit Allen’s scheme anyway and trading Kmet who they can’t really afford anyway will be a start. A couple renegotiations and they can afford to bring back Byard at least. Throwing Maxx onto the pile would just throw everything off kilter. Great player. Would have made sense last year, Not now.
Moves I’d like to see the Bears make:
Cut Edmunds-Saves 15 million.
Trade Kmet- Saves 11 million-adds a pick
Get the comp picks from the NFL- they earned them
Re sign Byard
Re sign Wright
Move either Stevenson or Gordon to Safety
Trade or renegotiate Moore- Trade seems unlikely with his contract
First round pick should either be a Safety or a DT who can storm the QB
Draft Allen some fast LB’s
Draft another RB- Lose Homer,Johnson or get Wheeler back
Swift- I’m still undecided. Maybe renegotiate or let go
The rest depends on how much money they can save by redoing a few contracts. This off season needs to be about the defense.
True, but Swift played better at the end of the year than anytime I have watched him, going back to Detroit. He can still be valuable if they work it out.
Crosby wants to be reunited with Stills, Nash & Young.
Of course this won’t happen, but could you imagine if Vegas traded out of the first pick, and then traded Crosby?
Sure, they would probably be even more terrible next year, but they could potentially have three or four firsts alone next year. No chance it happens-I would bet Brady is Mendoza’s biggest fan right now, not to mention the front office-but it’s fun to imagine that scenario to me.
The part of this scenario that makes it not so fun for me, is how badly we blew our last chance at multiple first round picks. I am good with playing it safe with Mendoza and keeping Maxx around for his entire career, or at least another solid chunk of it.
I’ve thought about that as well. It’s a fantasy, but trade the #1 to the NYJ for their #1, #2, and next year’s #1. Trade Maxx for Dallas two #1’s. Without Mendoza & Maxx, we’ll be pretty close to the #1 again next year, and that’s when we get our QB.
Aiyuk is getting moved so why not Vegas?
Mad Maxx on that Niners D would make them … formidable
Nowhere in the article is Maxx Crosby saying any of this. This, of course, is coming from a writer. Let’s just disregard the actual fact that Crosby has denied all of this MULTIPLE times over the years. Glazer and Schefter assume the whole league runs through them, and most of you do too. They don’t get credit for being right, just being first. 🙄 Just your typical offseason garbage created by writers.
So for multiple times over the years Crosby has denied he was upset with being put on IR at the end of last season? Who besides you, knew he was a psychic time traveller?
Tough to take on both a contract like Crosby’s and to lose the draft capital. Almost too big a fish to trade.
The NFL is declining rapidly.
If Maxx wants a trade you will hear about it directly from him and not Jay Glazer.
time for howie to strike again .. brown + draft capital for crosby
Throw in a starting offensive lineman and you have your deal.
You’re definitely not getting a starting lineman from Philly. Facing the Dickerson and Johnson retirements, the Eagles need to gain players, not trade them. If this hypothetical trade even happened at all, any lineman that would go with it would be someone unproven to make way for a high end addition later in Philadelphia. I think Philly’s much more focused on adding offensive linemen right now than anything else, due to the possible retirements and the upcoming scheme change.
Why would even the Raiders take an “unproven lineman” in a trade from the Eagles….their reputation just left (Oline coach) and their ability has definitely taken hits over the past several seasons due to injuries and retirements and if true and Johnson and Dickerson are retiring, that just cements their elite status is a thing of the past….even Howie couldn’t make this one work….
Maxx Crosby addressed this. 100% media driven but this is America. Believe what you want.
Just don’t see the fit in DC, We really don’t have the draft capitol on a team that has too much age on it. This will be his 7th season and have to think his better time has passed. Guy has a motor thou and those are not easy to find!
The only thing that I could see would be Quinn being desperate to save his job (which could be true, given that’s fired many of his assistants). Peters is the one, though, who’d have to do it. He’s shown a willingness to add vets (like Samuel), but I also think that Washington would rather get their ship in order than make a big addition at that spot.
If it did happen, though, I could see McLaurin included. Swapping two aged players who are still playmakers might seem unusual, but the reason that I say this is that Washington seemed to really value McLaurin at a much lower level last offseason than McLaurin himself did. If Peters is still of that mindset, I could see him using McLaurin as a piece in a trade to “get younger” as GMs like to do.
Moneywise, McLaurin’s contract is pretty manageable early at around $18 million, before jumping to $34 million and $39 million in his last two guaranteed years. Crosby’s hit next year is $35 million, then reduces to $29, 27, and 26 million the next three. Crosby actually saves a little space by default for the next two, and then has another guaranteed year at what should be reasonable rates with cap increases such as they are.
If Vegas wants an experienced veteran to lead up an offense, McLaurin will be manageable with a QB on a rookie deal. Crosby’s deal will initially be expensive for Washington, but will be slightly more manageable for the next two years. I think that the money can be managed with Daniels still on a rookie deal. So the questions for DC are these: do you want to try and replace McLaurin, like you did last year? Do you want to add another vet to your line to establish a pass rush, or try to hit on someone younger? The questions for Vegas are: would you take lesser pick value to fully commit to Mendoza with a veteran wideout, or do you want high level picks only?
I think that Vegas wants picks as part of a full rebuild, honestly. While I think that Washington is more focused on their own issues with a coach who is feeling pressure, I don’t think that they’re tied completely to McLaurin under the new regime. If they make a play for Crosby-or for another team’s assets-I could definitely see McLaurin being in play as a piece.
Mad Max would be a youngster on the DC group of old men, especially on the defensive side of the ball and didn’t DC use the same “over the hill” philosophy with LT Williams who has been named All Pro in SF again and again….that he’s in the league 7 years already might be a bargaining strategy if they had player and draft resources to even get in the conversation if there is indeed one to get into…..
To Pats for Kyle Williams, 2 firsts and a Day 3
You pick too low. You’d need like 4 #1’s to equal the value of the NYJ’s #1.
Screw him. He just signed a new deal.
I think Maxx would look great in orange and black stripes. Hardhead attitude, check. Crazy looks, check. Plays hurt, check. Trey who??
These reporters should be held liable for pushing straight lies when they’re wrong. Offseason news has absolutely zero credibility. Always want to be first, but never right.