Tom Brady may have offered major update on Maxx Crosby trade rumors

Las Vegas Raiders star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby continues to be the subject of trade rumors, even though neither he nor those running the Raiders have given any indication that a divorce will happen before the 2026 season gets underway.

During a recent appearance on the "Stick to Football" podcast, Raiders minority owner Tom Brady may have intentionally or unintentionally revealed the club's plans for Crosby regarding at least the start of the upcoming campaign.

Tom Brady expects Raiders will be an improved team

"I would expect a lot of improvement from where it’s been," Brady said about the Raiders, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "Last year, we just underperformed in every area. And it’s everybody’s fault. That’s the reality. There’s nobody who did a good job. There’s not one player in the organization, there’s not anybody involved that did the job to the level that it needs to be done at. And everybody needs to improve. And it starts with me, and it filters down to the rest of the players on the field, and they’ve got to go out there, and ultimately they’ve got to perform at a high level." 

The Raiders are coming off a 3-14 season, and they now have offensive guru Klint Kubiak serving as a first-year head coach. That said, the Raiders seemingly remain on track to name veteran Kirk Cousins the team's Week 1 starting quarterback over rookie Fernando Mendoza. That would lead one to believe that Brady and Co. aren't yet in an evaluation mode as it pertains to the Raiders' goals for the 2026 campaign.   

A recent story teased that the San Francisco 49ers could offer the Raiders a 2027 first-round draft pick, a 2028 second-round selection and second-year edge-rusher Mykel Williams for Crosby. On paper, such a move would not make the Raiders a better team than they are amid the NFL's ongoing summer break. 

Tom Brady expects "massive improvement" from 2026 Raiders

"A massive improvement," Brady added about his expectations for the 2026 Raiders. "And I would expect daily improvement, and I’d expect hourly improvement. I really would. Every day that goes by, when you’re on a good team, every day and every week goes by, you should be better. Like, a good team should be better at the end of the season than the beginning of the season, or you’re not a good team. If you have more time together and more practice and you’re getting worse, something’s wrong. ...Like, a lot of the teams I played on, the best game we played all season was the last game of the year. That says to me a lot about what the team’s all about."

History shows that Brady could be convinced that the Raiders need to acquire future assets for Crosby ahead of the trade deadline if Las Vegas seems destined to endure another losing campaign. For now, it continues to sound like Brady has no interest in trading Crosby this summer.