The Las Vegas Raiders want two first-round picks to trade Maxx Crosby, and apparently they're sticking to their guns.
The Cincinnati Bengals had a chance to upgrade their pass rush after losing edge rusher Trey Hendrickson to free agency, and according to a report from Nikhil Mehta of ProFootballRumors.com they offered their No. 10 pick to the Las Vegas Raiders to try and get defensive end Maxx Crosby.
But the Raiders wanted a second first-rounder, and the Bengal wouldn’t go there, Mehta added. Instead Cincinnati pivoted to add nose tackle Dexter Lawrence in a deal with the New York Giants in a straight-up deal for their top pick.
Crosby would have provided a direct replacement for Hendrickson, who posted 17.5 sacks in 2023 and 2024. Last year was a down year for Hendrickson, though, as injuries limited him to just four sacks in seven games. Crosby hasn’t been quite as productive when it comes to sacks with 32 in the last three seasons, but he is a much better run defender, and he’s also one of the most disruptive defensive players in football.
The number that shows this is the tackles-for-loss department. Crosby has averaged 19 TFLs per season in his seven-year career, according to Mehta, and last year his total of 28 trailed only defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, who was the Defensive Play of the Year.
Mehta offered no thoughts on what part Crosby’s medical reports may have played in this after the Baltimore Ravens rescinded their trade for the Raiders defensive star based on what they considered a degenerative knee issue. He did say that Cincinnati didn’t have a prospect they loved enough to hold onto the No. 10 pick, so they made the move with the Giants.
The Bengals will now have to look for edge rushers after tonight’s first round, which makes some sense given that the overall talent pool for that group is considered relatively deep compared to other positions.
For the Raiders, this report could indicate where their line in the sand is when it comes to possibly moving Crosby. It’s not clear where that line is when it comes to the number of the first rounder they’d be getting, but it does imply that they’re sticking to their guns when it comes to getting two first-rounders rather than a first and a third.
As always, the usual rumor caveats apply here. Both teams could be sending signals by feeding "information" to get a report like this out, so a solid dose of skepticism makes sense.