The Maxx Crosby trade rumors keep coming back around, and the Las Vegas Raiders have not exactly done anything to shut them down. The Raiders had a deal in place to send Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens earlier this offseason before Baltimore backed out over medical concerns, and now the star pass rusher’s future in Vegas is completely uncertain.
The medical piece is what makes this situation so tricky. When a team like the Ravens walks away from a trade because of medical issues, it sends a signal to every other franchise in the league. Nobody wants to hand over top draft capital for a player whose body might not hold up. That has to be a concern for anyone who tries to work out a new deal for Crosby.
The Raiders’ willingness to trade Crosby in the first place was surprising to a lot of people around the league. Crosby has been the heart and soul of Las Vegas’ defense for years. He is one of the most productive edge rushers in the sport and one of the few Raiders players who has consistently played at an elite level regardless of who was around him.
But the front office clearly decided that his contract situation and the direction of the roster made a trade the smart play. The Raiders have been in transition for a while, and moving a highly-paid veteran defensive player for future assets fits with the rebuilding pattern. The Ravens’ medical concerns just messed up the timing.
Now the question is what happens next. Crosby is still on the roster. He is under contract. And he could show up to training camp and play a normal season if nothing changes. Or the Raiders could try to work out another deal with a different team that has different medical evaluations.
The list of potential landing spots for Crosby is not short. Every team wants pass rush help. The Cowboys have been mentioned in various rumors. The Steelers are always looking for veteran defensive contributors. The Bengals could use another edge rusher next to Trey Hendrickson before he left for Baltimore.
The Cowboys angle is particularly interesting because Dallas has such a well-documented need on the defensive line. Adding Crosby to a Dallas roster that already has Micah Parsons would create one of the most fearsome pass rush duos in NFL history. That is exactly the kind of aggressive move Jerry Jones would love to make.
The medical concerns matter more for some teams than others. The Cowboys, for example, might be more willing to overlook them if the Raiders will accept less compensation. The Ravens’ willingness to walk away establishes a baseline of caution, but not every team is going to be quite as strict about the evaluations.
What Crosby wants also matters. He has been open about wanting to play for a winner, and Las Vegas has not been that for most of his career. Getting traded to a contender might be a welcome outcome for him personally, even if the Raiders take a lesser return than they wanted. That kind of scenario often accelerates trade timelines.
The financial piece is complicated. Crosby is on a massive contract that any receiving team would need to absorb. That immediately eliminates some suitors and puts the focus on teams that can either afford the cap hit or are willing to restructure the deal. Dallas, Cleveland, and Cincinnati all fit that profile at various levels.
Training camp opens July 24, and Crosby will presumably show up in some capacity even if his situation is unresolved. NFL players almost always report to camp because holding out costs real money, and the Raiders have every incentive to keep him engaged even if a trade is being worked in the background.
The trade rumors surrounding Crosby are not going away until his situation is definitively resolved. Either he ends up playing a full season in Las Vegas or he gets moved somewhere new. Given how the Ravens deal fell through, either outcome remains very much possible.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
