ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that trade rumors have been “somewhat quiet” around Maxx Crosby in recent days, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Crosby and the Raiders have reached a deision on his future with the organization.
According to Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer, a trade involving Crosby is still the most likely scenario and, as others reported from the NFL Combine last week, a trade could happen sooner than later.
“I’d lean toward a Maxx Crosby trade happening, and maybe this week. But there’s going to have to be some needle-threading,” Breer reported on Monday.
“I don’t think the Raiders want to go through the song-and-dance of shopping him, nor do I believe Crosby wants it advertised that he’s looking for suitors, given his bond with owner Mark Davis, and his view of himself as a Raider.”
“So what would be the cleanest for everyone is for a market to emerge organically. And that could happen, given that most teams are going to start spending to their cap and cash budgets, and filling roster spots a week from now,” Breer continued.
“Vegas, to be sure, isn’t going to give Crosby away. I also believe, though, that it’d be difficult to find the haul that the Raiders got for Khalil Mack eight years ago, or what Dallas got for Micah Parsons last year, or what the Dolphins received for Laremy Tunsil in 2019. All of those guys were traded for packages fronted by two first-round picks. All of those guys were also much younger, nearing the ends of their rookie deals.”
Over the weekend, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah commented on Crosby’s status with the Raiders and suggested a trade could happen if the Raiders bring down their asking price.
Jeremiah believes the Chicago Bears would “make the most sense” for Crosby and thinks the approach in Las Vegas has been to start with a huge asking price for their All-Pro pass rusher and see if anyone comes close to meeting that price.
“Word is now, maybe this is just aim high and maybe you take a little less,” Jeremiah said of the Raiders’ approach to potentially trading Crosby.
Crosby’s posted a video over the weekend of himself playing basketball at his home in Las Vegas, and every indication is that he is ahead of schedule in his rehab from knee surgery in January.
Do the Patriots currently have the best offer on the table for Crosby?
According to Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, there is a belief around the league that Tom Brady’s former team has made the strongest offer for Crosby to this point in the process.
“Spending time with five different people… they’re all NFL people. I asked them, ‘What teams are you hearing [for Crosby]?’ Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“Everybody said they think the team that wants him the absolute most is probably the New England Patriots,” Carpenter continued. “All five said, and I want to make this abundantly clear, none of them said that Tom Brady in any way told them this, but this is based on their speculation and based on some things that they know about Mark Davis.”
“They said the Raiders would probably get the best deal from New England, but they’re not sure the optics of what it would look like if a Raiders team that is controlled by Tom Brady were to trade him to the Patriots. I thought that was interesting. To be very frank, it was not an angle that I had spent much time even remotely thinking about, and I thought that was interesting, that that’s the perception of the NFL”
x: @raidersbeat