Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby is expected to need knee surgery that will sideline him into the offseason, according to league sources quoted by Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Crosby was placed on injured reserve on Friday to start the process of getting him healthy for 2026, Schefter also added. The Raiders play the New York Giants today in a game that’s been dubbed the “Toilet Bowl,” given that the loser will almost certainly get the top pick in the 2026 draft.
Given what’s at stake here, there’s been speculation that competitive balance could be part of what’s at play here to help put Las Vegas at an intrinsic disadvantage with Crosby out, but the Raiders are insisting that this situation is simply about the medicals.
"We have made the decision to place Maxx Crosby on the Reserve/Injured list for the remainder of the 2025 season," the team said in a statement Saturday. "After deliberate and thorough consultation with multiple top medical professionals, it became clear that this decision is in the best interest of both the franchise and the player.
“Maxx is the ultimate warrior, and he has fought extremely hard to compete each week with his teammates since injuring his knee mid-season. We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions. He is a true Raider on and off the field -- we look forward to his leadership and toughness into 2026 and beyond."
Medically speaking, then, this one of those unfortunately “what did they know, and when did they know it?” stories. Crosby’s original injury occurred back on Oct. 19 against the Chicago Bears, but the Raiders star kept playing, and Las Vegas kept trotting him out there.
Both parties had to know surgery was in play at some point in the last couple of months, so it’s fair to ask if it could have been avoided. That’s what a smart franchise would have done, but that’s not the Raiders right now.
This decision also damages both parties considerably. The Raiders have been a disaster this year, and one of the possibilities the team had to be looking at was trading Crosby for draft capital, but that just became a lot harder to do given that he’s about to have surgery. The return will be a lot lower, but the chance to fix all this likely came weeks ago, and no one acted to do that.
As for Crosby, he loves the franchise, but he has to know that coach Pete Carroll isn’t coming back next year, and Las Vegas is now looking at a multi-year rebuild, so who knows what he'll want to do.