For more than three months, rumors swirled around Maxx Crosby’s future with the Raiders, and the prevailing message from the organization until last week was that the All-Pro pass rusher was expected to be with the team in 2026.
The head coach, GM and nearly everyone close to the organization downplayed the likelihood of Crosby being traded. All the while, Crosby did little to quiet the rumors.
It was reported that Crosby was not expected to request a trade, but according to Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer, there was no need for Crosby to request a trade in recent days because he had already done it months ago.
“Quietly, after the season, Crosby requested a trade, intimating to owner Mark Davis, with whom he shares a very close relationship, and GM John Spytek that he wanted to work with the team and find a solution that worked for everyone,” Breer reported on Monday.
“[Crosby] even told Davis that he wanted to help the team win, ‘even if I’m not here.’ Crosby said he didn’t want things to get hostile or play out in the media. The arrival of Klint Kubiak didn’t move the needle much. Crosby had a good meeting with the Raiders’ new coach on the day he was introduced to the media, and was happy for his position coach, Rob Leonard, when Kubiak promoted him to defensive coordinator. But by then, it would have been hard to get Crosby to want to stay.”
“He never wanted to leave Vegas,” Breer continued, “but that line was crossed in December, and the idea of going through another regime change (Kubiak would’ve been his sixth head coach) became far less appealing, even as much as he loved Davis…”
“A fascinating piece to this trade came into place at the very end, when Crosby told Kubiak, again, that he wanted to do whatever he could to help the Raiders win. He said he still loves the organization and loves Davis, and, cognizant of his legacy with the team, wanted everyone to come out of what’s been a messy few months in the best place possible.”
Last week, The Athletic’s Vic Tafur said Crosby met with Davis two months ago and the two agreed a trade would make the most sense for everyone involved.
“Mark Davis knew it was over; it was really just a matter of giving his blessing,” Tafur reported on Saturday.
“The Raiders’ owner went to Maxx Crosby’s house two months ago, and the two talked for hours about the pass rusher’s issues with the present state of affairs in Las Vegas. They shared some laughs about the past and then agreed that maybe it was time to have different futures.”
Another report from The Athletic said Crosby’s fate with the Raiders was sealed all the way back in December.
Despite the friendly gestures in the media, there is enough evidence to believe the relationship between Crosby and minority owner Tom Brady was strained in recent months – probably going back to before he was shut down for the season in December.
Brady has assumed a role with the Raiders unlike anything we have seen from an NFL organization in the sense that he is so actively involved in the team’s football decisions, but rarely in the building.
If you believe Mike Silver’s report in The Athletic last week, there were trust issues between Brady and the locker room (including the coaching staff, according to Silver) last year, and it will be interesting to see if that dynamic carries over into the 2026 season.
With a new coaching staff and a locker room that could have 20+ new names on the active roster, will the Raiders be able to avoid some of the negative storylines that haunted the organization in 2025?
For the fans and everyone involved, that is certainly the hope.
x: @raidersbeat
