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Recent moves highlight Raiders’ smart move on Maxx Crosby

Originally posted on Dice City Sports | By Derek Hegna | Last updated Aug 30, 2025 10:51 AM ET

The NFL moves at a lightning-quick pace, and falling behind means having to pay more for moves.

On March 5th, the Las Vegas Raiders solved their biggest contract problem for next season early, locking down pass rusher Maxx Crosby to a deal worth $35.5 million annually. At the time, it established Crosby as the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. It was seen as an excellent move by the Raiders, ensuring that the face of their franchise would remain with them for the foreseeable future.

Fast forward six months later, and the Raiders’ willingness to hammer out a deal with their star edge rusher has paid off considerably.

Other teams have paid much more handsomely than the Raiders for their stars.

In the months that have passed between when Crosby inked his new extension and now, the Raiders superstar has gone from the highest-paid non-quarterback to not even being in the top five in that category.

On March 5, #Raiders DE Maxx Crosby became the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL with a $35.5M annual average.

Richer non-QB contract AAVs since:
Micah Parsons: $47M
TJ Watt: $41M
Ja’Marr Chase: $40.25M
Myles Garrett: $40M
Danielle Hunter: $35.6M pic.twitter.com/CAYbcqm8li

— Nick Walters (@nickwalt) August 28, 2025

With four of the five contracts signed since being edge rushers, it is fair to say that Crosby and the Raiders reset the market instead of getting caught it in themselves.

Garrett’s extension of $40 million by the Cleveland Browns cleared Crosby and Hunter of the Houston Texans’ extensions by almost $5 million, so both teams got rewarded for their proactivity as a result. After more extensions were agreed to, the biggest domino fell on Thursday, when Parsons was traded from the Dallas Cowboys to the Green Bay Packers and signed a more lucrative extension that now sits as the most expensive contract for a non-quarterback.

The Raiders not only avoided having to pay even more for Crosby, but also kept him in Las Vegas long-term, making getting a deal done early arguably their biggest victory of the offseason.

This article first appeared on Dice City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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