It was announced on Friday that the Raiders are sending Maxx Crosby to the Ravens for two first-round picks, and according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the runner up in the Crosby sweepstakes was the Dallas Cowboys.
After trying to acquire Crosby at the 2025 trade deadline, it was no secret that Dallas was trying hard again to land the All-Pro defender.
“The Raiders had two teams willing to swing for the fence here; the Cowboys and the Ravens,” Fowler said on Saturday on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
“The Ravens were willing to give up the two first-round picks, the Cowboys simply were not and I was told the Cowboys were low key devastated. They really wanted Maxx Crosby. They were eyeing him for months, but they just had a tipping point. It was a first-round pick and a second-round pick. They tried to involve a veteran player or two to sweeten the deal. The Raiders didn’t want to that. They simply wanted the youth and the draft picks.”
For Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, it looks like he’s moving towards a situation where he’s going to have pay big money for free agent pass rusher Trey Hendrickson – who actually wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize.
In hindsight, the Bengals probably wish they would have done what the Raiders did with Crosby because they won’t be getting anything more than a potential compensatory pick for their star pass rusher – who has 74.5 sacks since 2020, compared to 59.5 for Crosby since 2020.
Looking ahead, the Raiders desperately need to make the most of their newest draft picks in 2026 and 2027.
It’s been a long time since the Silver & Black entered a rebuild situation like the one they will welcome when the Crosby trade is finalized this week. Though some would say that’s a decision they should have embraced before now.
Crosby leaves a massive void in Las Vegas, but for the fan base, the next two months will be more interesting with two picks coming in the first round of the draft.
Fernando Mendoza is coming to Las Vegas with the Raiders’ first overall pick, but what will they do with pick 14? A new pass rusher, perhaps?
Crosby wasn’t a first-round prospect coming out of Eastern Michigan
Back in 2019, it was a fourth-round pick that brought Crosby to Oakland, and some will remember what All-Pro defensive end Chuck Smith, who was Crosby’s trainer, said about Crosby at the time.
“People ask me to describe Maxx and Maxx is an absolute junkyard pit bull dog,” Smith said about Crosby seven years ago.
“He is the kind of kid that’s going to go hard, he’s still developing… but the one thing you like about him… he’s a great effort guy… Maxx is long, he’s tall, he’s quick off the ball, has a great long arm. Maxx Crosby might be the steal of this draft, I’m telling you, man.”
x: @raidersbeat
