Raiders Turned Down Interest In DE Maxx Crosby

Crosby certainly had an eventful transition from 2025 to 2026. After the Raiders shut him down for the season early because of his knee injuries, the veteran pass rusher took to social media to make his own argument, showing clear discontent with the organization. While later on, Crosby and several Raiders decision makers would argue that they never wanted a trade to occur, the Eastern Michigan product became one of the hotter offseason commodities as he began to draw extremely tempting trade offers.

Eventually the Ravens agreed to acquire Crosby in a package that would yield the Raiders two first-round picks. A few days later, though, Baltimore backed out of the trade with concerns over Crosby’s long-term outlook. In the aftermath, many chastised the Ravens for their perceived actions, but while plenty of rumors of other offers developed, no further efforts were made to trade for Crosby as he settled back into Las Vegas.

Through nine games this year, Crosby hasn’t quite filled up the stat sheet at the level expected of him. While his four sacks aren’t too far off pace and his 20 quarterback hits have already matched his 12- and 15-game totals from the past two seasons, Crosby is on pace to set a career-low in tackles for loss with only five so far this year. Still, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) touts him as one of the most impactful edge defenders in the league, giving him the seventh-highest defensive rating at the position.

It wasn’t too surprising that the Raiders showed interest in retaining Crosby as calls started to trickle in, but some believed that the team’s willingness to part ways with starting quarterback Kirk Cousins might extend to the star defensive end. Instead, Las Vegas stood pat, retaining their defensive leader as they coronate a new leader on the offensive side of the ball. As a result, the Fernando Mendoza era will not be forced to start with a defense stripped of its most impactful player.