Patriots executive addresses wild Tom Brady, Maxx Crosby trade rumor

Shortly after it was learned that the Las Vegas Raiders had agreed to send Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens, a report claimed that Raiders minority owner Tom Brady had no intention of sending the star pass-rusher to the New England Patriots, the franchise Brady guided to six Super Bowl championships. 

While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf was asked about the Brady story. 

Was Tom Brady not sending Maxx Crosby to Raiders really a thing? 

"No, I’d be surprised if that was true," Wolf said, per Mark Daniels of MassLive. "I have a really good relationship with John Spytek, the Raiders general manager. We speak about a variety of things, and that’s never been a thing." 

Of course, the Ravens have since backed out of the Crosby trade after he reportedly did not pass his physical. While Wolf acknowledged that the Patriots "make a lot of exploratory calls" about other players, he would not for sure say if he made a real attempt to land Crosby. 

Eliot Wolf reacts to Ravens handling of Maxx Crosby saga

Numerous unnamed general managers and executives have ripped Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta for basically hanging the Raiders out to dry days after word of the trade went public. The Ravens scrapped the deal before it could become official at the start of the new league year on Wednesday, and Baltimore later agreed to sign Cincinnati Bengals pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson to a four-year, $112M contract that includes $60M in fully guaranteed money.

"I didn’t know too much about it," Wolf said about the Crosby trade not going through. "I think every team and general manager in the league has to act in the faith of what they think is best for their team. And that one was maybe a little unusual, but that’s their business." 

Crosby now seems prepared to stay with Las Vegas through at least the 2026 season, and the Raiders reportedly "are currently telling teams that" the 28-year-old who needed a meniscus repair earlier this winter won't be traded.

Unsurprisingly, Wolf offered a non-answer when asked if he would explore trading for Crosby later this spring or summer. 

"I’d have to talk to (director of research) Richard Miller about our numbers right now," Wolf said. "So, again, we’ll look into any player that we think can help us."

There's no sign Crosby will be helping any team other than the Raiders this coming fall.