The Las Vegas Raiders need to trade star defensive end Maxx Crosby while his trade value is high and it seems like that is likely this offseason.
We could be nearing the end of star edge rusher Maxx Crosby’s tenure with the Las Vegas Raiders as we approach the end of the 2025-26 National Football League season.
Super Bowl 60 is upon us this Sunday and while most of the focus is on the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots for obvious reasons, all 32 teams are discussed during the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
The Raiders are being discussed for two reasons: Klint Kubiak, Seattle’s offensive coordinator and soon-to-be head coach of Las Vegas, and Crosby.
Crosby has been a popular topic of discussion long before this week, as he has expressed the will to win his entire career. Unfortunately for him, the Raiders have made the playoffs just one time in his seven-year career.
Because of the organization’s failures over the years, speculation of a Crosby trade has been prominent, but it’s the most prominent it has ever been. Despite his strong loyalty to the franchise and expressing his desire to stay, this may be the offseason that marks the end of an era for the Raiders.
“Crosby hasn't talked to the team since the season, so there hasn't been an offseason trade request or talks of any sort,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote Saturday.
Although he hasn't requested a trade, the five-time Pro Bowler hasn’t been in contact with the team in a while, probably since the team shut him down with two games remaining on the schedule. Crosby had been dealing with a nagging knee issue that required surgery; however, Crosby didn’t want to sit out the rest of the year.
Crosby was so upset with the organization’s decision to put him on season-ending injury reserve that he posted videos on social media of him playing basketball with his daughter at his house and even jumping on a trampoline to prove he could play. If that doesn’t scream dysfunction, I don’t know what does.
Crosby is a fantastic player who still has quite a few more years of excellent play left, and with the Raiders seemingly accepting the need for a full rebuild, maximizing the return on a trade should be General Manager John Spytek’s top priority before the draft.
“The reality is the Raiders are still far away from significant winning, and the trade interest in Crosby is incredibly robust,” Fowler wrote. “In fact, I believe more than a dozen teams, possibly up to 20, will at least inquire with levels of serious intent.”
There are a ton of teams that would give up a lot to get one of the top defensive ends of this generation, and the return would be massive. A return for Crosby is rumored to be much bigger than what the Dallas Cowboys got in return for Micah Parsons.
The Raiders could keep Crosby and try to build around him quickly, but that strategy worked about as well as a paper umbrella in a rainstorm – see 2025.