Could Raiders' Maxx Crosby request a trade after controversial decision?

It's no secret that Las Vegas Raiders star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby isn't thrilled that he was recently shut down by the team for the remainder of the season because of a lingering knee injury.

On Sunday, NFL insider Jay Glazer of Fox Sports suggested that Crosby could respond to the Raiders' decision by asking to be traded during the upcoming offseason. 

Has Maxx Crosby changed mind about playing only for Raiders?

"Remember, at the trade deadline, I said that Maxx Crosby told me that he [didn't] want to go anywhere," Glazer said on Sunday's edition of the "Fox NFL Kickoff" program. "He told the team he doesn't want to get traded anywhere else. I don't know if that's still the case. I think there's some massaging that still has to happen."

Crosby has played only for the Raiders since they drafted him in 2019, and he previously insisted on multiple occasions that he wouldn't want to play for another organization during his career. While he signed a three-year, $106.5M contract extension this past offseason, he has had more head coaches (five) than playoff appearances (one) with the Raiders. 

Fair or not, the perception exists that people within the Raiders wanted to sideline Crosby in an effort to "tank" and end Week 18 holding the rights to the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Raiders are now responsible for the league's worst overall record (2-14) following their 34-10 loss to the lowly New York Giants (3-13) on Sunday.

Raiders' decision "wasn't acceptable" to Maxx Crosby

"I've been on the phone with Maxx a bunch over the last couple of days and he's not happy," Glazer added during his report. "He was like, 'Jay, I play football. This is what I do. I’ve had a knee injury since Week 3 that I've played with the entire time. They told me they were shutting me down. I was like, no, absolutely not. I play football. There's no shutting it down for me. I want to be out there. I want to be out there with my teammates.' It just wasn't acceptable to Maxx."

Crosby had been a supporter of first-year Raiders head coach Pete Carroll, but it's unclear if Crosby's feelings have changed over the past week or so. It's also unknown if Carroll will hold onto his job through the winter. The Raiders will finish the season with a home game versus the rival Kansas City Chiefs (6-10) on Jan. 4.