Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek stood at a lectern last week at the NFL combine and offered a firm declaration. Star pass rusher Maxx Crosby remains very much in the Raiders’ plans.
“Maxx is an elite player,” Spytek said during his availability in Indianapolis. “And I’ve been very upfront from the start when I got here that we’re in the business of having really good players on the team. We need a lot more of them. It’s hard to build a great team without elite players.”
That was the Raiders’ public assertion, anyway, a message to potential Crosby suitors as the NFL offseason is set to accelerate. Spytek’s caution, however, was not considered a stop sign by anyone in the league as teams continue to assess Crosby’s availability on the trade market.
As the combine ended, sentiments from around the league seemed mixed. Some believe the Raiders hold all the leverage and won’t get jumpy to move their best defensive player unless a can’t-refuse offer comes knocking. Others sense the team could be willing to deal at a small discount, motivated to get a healthy return while Crosby’s value remains near its peak.
Clarity should be coming soon. The opening of the NFL free-agency window is now just days away, meaning the trade market is gathering steam. This is the week last year when the Chicago Bears agreed to deals to acquire guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. Seven days before the start of free agency, the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans agreed to a David Montgomery trade.
So is a headline-grabbing Crosby deal imminent before the end of this weekend or during the first wave of free agency? And might the Bears, with a need to elevate their pass rush, become heavily involved?
The Athletic’s Dan Wiederer and Kevin Fishbain offer their perspective in a spirited back-and-forth.
Wiederer: From my understanding, there isn’t currently an “asking price” per se on Crosby. After all, Las Vegas isn’t actively shopping the All-Pro pass rusher. Thus, it really boils down to what kind of offer might grab the Raiders’ attention.
To that end, opinions around the league seem mixed. One front-office exec I spoke with pointed to the return the Dallas Cowboys got in trading Micah Parsons last summer — two first-round picks plus a Pro Bowl defensive tackle — and wondered why the Raiders would settle for anything else. After all, as Spytek said, Crosby is an elite performer. His contract runs through 2029. And so, if the Raiders have confidence that their rebuilding bounce-back could occur in 2027 or 2028 and believe Crosby will still be an impact difference-maker in that window, they shouldn’t be itching to get rid of him for anything less than a blockbuster offer.
Others, though, believe the Raiders may be tantalized by even modest draft capital plus a proven veteran in return. Time will tell. So, Kev, is this a thought exercise the Bears should dive deeper into?
Fishbain: They shouldn’t ignore it. We know Ryan Poles isn’t afraid of these conversations, but remember that not-so-subtle shot he took last week at the previous GM when answering a question of the win-now versus prepare-for-the-future tug of war?
“There’s some things you can do … you all have seen that before I got here,” Poles said at the combine. “You can accelerate it and then after, it goes away pretty quick. So we got to balance both. Unfortunately, that’s not reality in terms of, you know, picking it and do you want to go all in and hurt yourself down the road. Our mindset is to do both, win now and then be able to sustain that and have flexibility. It’s not gonna be easy, you know what I mean?”
On the surface, my gut reaction to that was, “This is not someone willing to sacrifice the future for one player.” Then again … is Crosby the exact type of player worth that kind of haul? Are the Bears less worried about forgoing draft capital and cap space for a — to use a Ryan Pace term — multiplier like Crosby?
That was the thought process with the Khalil Mack trade, which looked pretty good in 2018. But the subsequent seasons saw the Bears fall off, which wasn’t all because of Mack’s contract, but it served as quite the cautionary tale. And the similarities make it an easy trade to reference — Bears GM goes all in for a Raiders star pass rusher.
As we go through the Bears’ salary-cap situation and their litany of needs on defense, it’s just difficult to see the investment needed for Crosby being attractive to Poles, who has emphasized keeping the long view during this window the Bears have opened.
Wiederer: On point. As you mentioned, the cautionary tale for the Bears to consider before trading with the Raiders for a premier pass rusher is … well, that trade the Bears once made with the Raiders for a premier pass rusher.
Bears fans remember that 2018 deal for Mack fondly. After all, upon snagging the then-27-year-old standout for two first-round picks, a third and a sixth — plus a record-setting contract extension with $90 million in guaranteed money — the team immediately shot from last place to the top of the NFC North, enjoying a dream season with Mack as the engine. But that success was short-lived. Over Mack’s final three seasons in Chicago, the Bears had a .449 winning percentage and never won a playoff game.
Mack was solid — 36 sacks and 14 forced fumbles as a Bear — but was on the elite tier of defensive playmaking for only a short while and was eventually traded to the Chargers in 2022 for draft picks the Bears ultimately turned into safeties Jaquan Brisker and Elijah Hicks and punter Trenton Gill.
Meanwhile, as a trivia footnote, players who would have been available to the Bears with the 2019 and 2020 draft selections they sent to the Raiders in the original Mack deal included Justin Jefferson, Tee Higgins, Jonathan Greenard, Josh Jacobs, Montez Sweat and Deebo Samuel.
That’s a glimpse into opportunity cost, even as the temptation to add a player with Crosby’s pedigree feels obvious.
Fishbain: No one will argue about the Bears’ need for a playmaker like Crosby. Who doesn’t need a pass rusher of his caliber? The problem is cost, for one. The 2018 Bears were flush with cap space, even after splurging for pass catchers Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Trey Burton in free agency. The 2026 Bears are the opposite. They have to create space.
The best-case scenario for the Bears along the defensive line, if they don’t trade for Crosby, is hoping Dayo Odeyingbo returns from his Achilles injury and can regain the form the team started to see before he went down. Rookie Shemar Turner also began to show his abilities at defensive end before a freak ACL tear.
Those are not the most reliable players at this juncture, which is why edge rusher is high on any Bears wish list for the offseason, not to mention a force from the interior … oh, and a weakside linebacker, two safeties, maybe help at corner, a left tackle … you see where I’m going?
Once the Bears do their restructuring of contracts, they’ll be able to add free agents and maybe re-sign some of their own to fill those spots. Or they could take the big swing, feeling comfortable with Crosby being so good that they can afford to go down a tier at the other positions.
You know I’m a big “two things can be true” guy, Dan. If the Bears go for it and land Crosby, it will make them a serious contender in 2026. He’s a phenomenal talent, and he clearly has a good rapport with Caleb Williams. But they will really need him to be a long-term star, while finding a way to still be above average across the board, to make sure that this isn’t just a home run for 2026.
Wiederer: Precisely. It’s why the Bears’ legitimate quest to “win now” shouldn’t be misconstrued as “now or never.” The Bears have opened their window of contention. The goal is to hold it up with roster moves that prove both impactful and practical.
Several folks around the league have pointed to the fine print with Crosby as well. For one thing, you don’t have to scroll back far to find images of Crosby in a hospital bed recovering from knee surgery. That happened just this winter. Crosby’s 2024 season also ended early, and he had an ankle operation as the punctuation there.
Furthermore, his 29th birthday arrives during training camp this summer. And so while Crosby’s playmaking impact is undeniable and his highlight reel can be intoxicating, a front office’s responsibility is to play the projection game, forecasting how long a player like this can remain a game-wrecker. That’s a guessing game that can have costly consequences.
To that end, it’s also important to understand the alternative avenues the Bears can use to address their defensive needs.
Fishbain: If the Bears don’t enter (or win) the Crosby Sweepstakes, they can still upgrade their pass rush, one that ranked 21st in sacks per pass attempt.
Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson is The Athletic’s No. 1 free agent. He’s 31 and played in only seven games last season but has the Dennis Allen familiarity from the start of his career in New Orleans. Our list of the top 150 free agents actually has four edge rushers in the top 14: Hendrickson, Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh and, yes, Khalil Mack.
Once we get to the second wave of free agency, edge rushers can be had there as well. Then there’s the draft, where Auburn’s Keldric Faulk, Miami’s Akheem Mesidor, Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell, Clemson’s T.J. Parker and Missouri’s Zion Young could all be in play at No. 25.
It’s not absurd to talk yourself into a more formidable Bears defensive line with one of the aforementioned players joining Sweat, Austin Booker (who had 12 QB hits in 10 games), Odeyingbo and Turner. None of those options comes close to matching the potential impact of Crosby, but this group can still improve without affecting the cap and draft resources of future Bears teams — and this one. That’s the decision Poles faces.
