With the Baltimore Ravens backing out of their trade with the Raiders for Maxx Crosby on Tuesday night, the Chicago Bears must look into how a deal can get done for the star pass rusher.
Just a day before NFL free agency was set to begin, major news dropped. The Las Vegas Raiders issued a statement on social media that the Baltimore Ravens have backed out of the trade for pass rusher Maxx Crosby.
As expected, the NFL landscape went into a frenzy. Not long after, details surfaced for the Ravens’ reasoning, pointing to medical reasons. Crosby is now two months removed from a full meniscus repair and has had several lower-body injuries in the past.
Crosby’s agent, CJ LaBoy, reassured the public on Tuesday that the star pass rusher is ahead of schedule in his recovery.
"Maxx continues to be on track in his recovery and if anything is ahead of schedule, according to his surgeon Dr. Neal El Attrache," LaBoy said in his statement on X. "Maxx remains on track to return during the offseason program & will undoubtedly return as the dominant game wrecker he has been these past 7 seasons."
With the trade canceled and Crosby back on the Raiders, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that “several” teams have inquired about Crosby’s availability in a trade. The question now is, should the Chicago Bears be one of those teams looking to trade for the 28-year-old game wrecker?
That answer is yes.
According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the Raiders “aren’t going to come off their asking price of two first-round picks at this time.”
To be fair, why would the Raiders ask for anything less right now? There is speculation circulating that the Ravens had all of Crosby’s medical information and understood his recovery timeline, but ultimately just got cold feet. Just because the Ravens weren’t comfortable moving forward with the trade, that shouldn’t impact Crosby’s trade value.
But it could happen.
SI’s Albert Breer noted that “getting anything close to what Baltimore agreed to will be hard,” and mentioned that teams have already spent their cash and cap budgets and filled their rosters.
That works to the Bears’ advantage.
During the NFL’s legal tampering period, the Bears have addressed some of their roster needs. They have a new center in Garrett Bradbury, a starting safety with Coby Bryant and depth in the secondary with Cam Lewis, a starting linebacker in Devin Bush, two interior defensive linemen in Neville Gallimore and Kentavius Street and another wide receiver in Kalif Raymond.
Poles has also re-signed left tackle Braxton Jones, quarterback Case Keenum and linebacker D’Marco Jackson.
These are not the biggest moves by any means, and it’s fair to question if Jones should be the starting left tackle in Week 1 and who is slotted as the starting strong safety and cornerback opposite of Jaylon Johnson, but there are place holders.
Poles has yet to add a defensive playmaker on the edge. Maybe the Bears planned to address the position in the upcoming daft after Crosby was initially traded. It would make sense, considering the 2026 class has a deep pool of talent at the position, but no rookie is going to create the impact that Crosby would have this season.
Of course, the Bears’ organization must be comfortable with Crosby’s medicals. That’s where it starts for a potential move to become possible. If that checks out, then it’s exploring the trade compensation. Of course, the Raiders still want two first-round picks, but given the current situation, maybe that’s not what it will take to get a trade done.
The Bears would also have to maneuver their current cap space to fit Crosby's $30.7 million salary.
Regardless, Poles must contact Raiders general manager John Spytek and ask how the two teams can get a deal done so the Bears can acquire one of the best pass rushers in the NFL.