Las Vegas Raiders News & Rumors

The Raiders have been slow playing what is seeming like it will be an eventual trade of star defensive end Maxx Crosby. With the NFL Scouting Combine coming to a close today and the last few rumors of the weekend trickling in, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that, at the moment, the asking price for Crosby is still too high for teams to act on.

As workouts at the combine began on Thursday, it came out that, in order to let go of Crosby, Las Vegas was looking for a similar trade package to what the Cowboys got for Micah Parsons (two first-round picks and an impact player). While general manager John Spytek said earlier in the week that he didn’t expect a trade to take place, Fowler’s source with the team called Crosby’s chances of returning “relatively small.” Some team executives are skeptical of the Raiders’ intentions reasoning that any team would want to keep “a premier player at a premier position” and seeing the high asking price as a sort of fence being built up around Crosby.

That’s not to say that teams aren’t interested, though. Per Fowler, “at least a dozen teams have expressed cursory to strong interest” in the 28-year-old. If enough suitors are truly interested, it may behoove the Raiders to keep the asking price high. That way, as the demand builds up, a team may get antsy waiting for the price to come down and choose to come up to meet the asking price in order to avoid another team jumping in first. Plus, there’s still plenty of time for negotiations to take place as free agency, the draft, and the rest of the offseason sit on the horizon.

We’ve discussed comparisons of Crosby to Parsons and Khalil Mack, but in those discussions, Crosby fell a bit short of his competition. While his production has been extremely similar over the years, he hasn’t garnered the same award interest as Parsons and Mack. Crosby is also two years older than Parsons and Mack were when they got traded. That may be why the current comparable asking price seems too high; those extra two years of age may be enough for teams to balk at including that impact player or keeping both top picks in the package on Day 1.

The situation still has all the room in the world to continue evolving as the offseason progresses, so we’ll continue to monitor the level interest coming in on Crosby and how the Raiders react to that interest. It seems like we’re closer than ever to reaching a conclusion on Crosby’s trade possibility. Crosby wants to win, and as the Raiders come out of their fourth losing season in a row, a change of scenes looks to be his best bet at winning while still in his prime.

FEBRUARY 26: According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Raiders’ price for a Crosby deal does indeed include two first-round picks but also a player. That would match the Parsons blockbuster from last season. Raiders GM John Spytek said earlier this week he does not expect a trade to take place, but it remains to be seen if a suitor will submit an offer in line with his asking price.

FEBRUARY 22: It’s no secret that Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby is a top trade target for many teams across the NFL, but several factors have the potential to affect if Crosby leaves, where he may end up, and just how much the Raiders might receive if they choose to trade him. According to Vincent Bonsignore of the California Post, the sheer amount of interest in Crosby indicates a return of two first-round picks is very much on the table.

We’ve discussed something along these lines in the past. The 28-year-old two-time second-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler has established himself amongst the best edge rushers in the NFL. His seven-year career with the Raiders — six years in Las Vegas after a rookie campaign in Oakland — has amassed 69.5 sacks, 133 tackles for loss, and 164 quarterback hits. Though his awards haven’t stacked up quite as high as some of his colleagues’, his production as an acquirable asset is fully on par with past edge rushers who were traded like Khalil Mack and Micah Parsons.

To be fair, both Mack and Parsons were two years younger when they were traded — Mack in 2018, Parsons last year. When Mack was traded from Oakland to Bears, Chicago sent the Raiders two first-round picks in return. Last year, Green Bay’s price for Parsons included two first-rounders in addition to veteran defensive tackle (and former first-round pick) Kenny Clark. Elite pass rushers are a commodity in the NFL. Though Crosby is two years older than both former examples, he’s still an elite pass rusher in the NFL, and if he isn’t worth two first-round picks on his own merit, team competition to acquire him is expected to drive his price up to that.

A factor outside of his performance metrics that could influence what we hear coming out of the combine on Crosby is the unknown determination of whether or not he wants to be traded. The Raiders would almost certainly love to hold onto him. The promotion of Crosby’s position coach to defensive coordinator could easily have been done with hopes that Crosby might be more willing to stick around if his main coach were not only retained on the new staff but promoted on it. Alternatively, Las Vegas may see enough value in what a trade offer could bring to their ability to accelerate the rebuild process.

There’s belief that Crosby may even want to stick around himself. Per an earlier report from Bonsignore’s colleague Noah Nussbaum, Crosby bleeds silver and black and may even be excited for the next steps of the Raiders’ rebuild. Alternatively, Crosby has already committed some of his best years to failed rebuild attempts as the franchise has cycled through head coaches and general managers over the years. He may decide that he’s waited long enough, that his patience has run out, and that it’s time for him to maximize his potential for success, both personal and team.

Another determining factor could be which teams opt to pursue Crosby. As we approach this week’s NFL Scouting Combine, coaching and personnel leaders in the NFL are set to convene in Indianapolis to observe and interview top collegiate athletes gathered from across the country.

The casual environment will allow for general managers to have off-the-record conversations through which they can gauge interest in tradeable players and begin negotiations on what price tags might look like. Teams with a standard or limited draft pick arsenal will almost certainly need to pair up the first-round picks from two separate years. A team that has accumulated a larger arsenal of picks, though, may be able to avoid two firsts by grouping several Day 2 picks with a first-rounder.

There are so many directions in which this conversation could go. It’s all speculation at the moment, but as team representatives from around the NFL gather in Lucas Oil Stadium this week, we could find a bit of clarity as ideas start to circulate around the combine.