The Raiders were adamant that they wanted two first-round picks for Maxx Crosby and based on reports over the weekend, it sounded like the Baltimore Ravens were the only team willing to hit that price point.
The Cowboys reportedly offered a first-round pick and a second-round pick for Crosby, but according to longtime NFL host Rich Eisen, there was actually another team offering two first-round picks.
“[The Ravens] didn’t overpay for [Crosby]. Another team on the list was New England. Number two on the list was Chicago,” Eisen said on the Rich Eisen Show on Monday.
“Word is Chicago did hit the two first overall pick demands, but the Ravens, instead of flipping him to another conference where they would only have to see Crosby one out of the next four years at a minimum, they flipped him in conference to the team that was fifth on that list in the Ravens. Because the Ravens two firsts are better than the Bears two firsts, at least in the first year where we know the Ravens are drafting in the middle of the first round.”
The Patriots were known to be interested in Crosby, but Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter pointed out last week that the visuals wouldn’t be great for Tom Brady if he sent Crosby to his former team.
Over the weekend, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said an “unnamed source” told him there was no way Tom [Brady] was sending Crosby to the Patriots.
It isn’t known what the Patriots were offering, but with New England being the AFC representative in the Super Bowl, it would have been a questionable decision by the Raiders to send one of the league’s best players to the reigning AFC Champion.
The Ravens should be a dangerous team in the AFC next year, but with a new coaching staff and Lamar Jackson showing some durability issues in recent years (he has missed 4+ games in 3 of the last 5 seasons), the Raiders might like their chances of the Ravens finishing the 2026 season with a worse record than the Bears.
As for the Raiders, they look like a team entering rebuild mode, but Raider Nation Radio host ‘JT the Brick’ said on Monday he still isn’t going to use that term.
“You will never hear the word ‘rebuild’ out of me,” JT said on his flagship radio show.
“I’ve been around football longer than most and I know that you don’t have to rebuild… and now people want me to frame this as a rebuild? The hell with those people. I ain’t using the word ‘rebuild.’ I never have and I’m not doing it now…”
“Yeah, it looks closer to a rebuild than I’ve ever seen in my almost 30 years with the Raiders… [but] you will never hear the word ‘rebuild’ out of me because I’ve been around football longer than most and I know you don’t have to rebuild.”
x: @raidersbeat
1. FERNANDO MENDOZA
14. MONROE FREELING
36. DANI DENNIS-SUTTON
67. DAVISON IGBINOSUN
102. JAKOBI LANE
124. NICHOLAS SINGLETON
134. ZANE DURANT
175. MAX LLEWELLYN
182. HAROLD PERKINS JR.
219. LORENZO STYLES JR.
220. DeVONTA SMITH
Lol, JT, you may have been around football for longer than most (congrats for being older than most Raiders fans, I guess), but for virtually the entire time he’s carried water for Al and Mark Davis, the Raiders have been one of the worst organizations in football… I wonder if it’s because they always overrate their ability to compete and have only committed to a real rebuild (and actually used the word) once in my lifetime. And that was when Al died, and McKenzie inherited a relic of a football ops department, not just in process and technology, but also in people as Al surrounded himself with a bunch of old loyalists. They were at least a decade behind the rest of the league in running an organization, and also had one of the worst cap situations in NFL history and had been stripped of draft assets and had barely any young players worth building around. JT never would have admitted that, though, or called for a rebuild, yet after a couple of years, with young, homegrown players, they were contending for a Super Bowl before Derek Carr broke his leg.
This version of the Raiders doesn’t have anywhere near the same institutional problems in terms of the cap, or technology, process or staff, so hopefully it will come together quicker, but yes, good Lord, the Raiders need a rebuild. If JT had any reservations about last year’s rebuilding roster and win-now coach, I don’t remember hearing them before the season. I’m **** sure he would have laughed at the suggesting they’d be the worst team in football, despite the fact they’re almost always one of the worst teams in football. We should be past the point of taking him seriously.
Also, if Tom Brady will not trade with the Pats, because he used to play there, or has bad blood or is worrying about optics, whatever… he cannot run a pro football team, period. Like, if the Raiders are in a position where they still have to trade Maxx and no other team has an offer of picks and/or players better than the Pats offer, would he actually take an inferior offer just to avoid trading with New England?
Without Baltimore’s better offer, that might be the situation he’s faced with, and if he won’t do business with NE, that’s super alarming, just like most of what we have heard of Brady’s influence so far.