After a stunning trade reversal by the Ravens, a motivated Maxx Crosby returns to Las Vegas fueled by rejection and poised for a career-defining, award-winning campaign.
At the end of the 2025 NFL regular season, it sure seemed that superstar pass rusher Maxx Crosby had played his final game in a Las Vegas Raiders uniform.
Then, in March, the Raiders agreed to trade Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for a pair of first-round picks.
Then, in one of the biggest curveballs in recent memory, the Ravens backed out of the trade only to sign former Cincinnati Bengals superstar pass rusher Trey Hendrickson right after.
There were plenty of reports about why the Ravens made the choice not to acquire Crosby, and in the end, he ended up going back to Las Vegas, and no other trade partner was found for the Pro Bowl talent.
Now, the Raiders enter 2026 with Crosby on the roster, and he could be in line for a monster season with a giant chip on his shoulder after the way things went down in Baltimore.
Douglas Clawson of CBS Sports had one bold prediction for every team, and for Las Vegas, he said Maxx Crosby winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
"Maxx Crosby is going to troll the Ravens by having a career year in 2026 after his trade to Baltimore was nixed because of a failed physical. That means close to 100 tackles and 15+ sacks as he wins Defensive Player of the Year," Clawson wrote.
Can you imagine the backlash Baltimore would receive if Crosby earns that award this season?
After all, the Ravens insisted the medical reports on Crosby were bad. Who knows. Maybe they were.
Maybe there were red flags. Or, maybe they had regrets about trading two first-round picks for an aging pass rusher.
At the end of the day, Crosby has looked healthy as can be during training camp, and he could very well emerge as the best pass rusher in the league this season.
Maxx Crosby also landed at No. 24 in the NFL Top 100 players list, so the belief still exists that he is one of the best players in the entire league.
It's too bad that the Raiders don't have a game scheduled against the Ravens this year, because we can only wonder what might be going through his head.
The Raiders begin the year against the Miami Dolphins at home, and after a wild, weird offseason, Crosby will be putting on the Raiders jersey again.
