Meet Me at the Quarterback - Has Maxx Crosby Played his Final Game in Las Vegas?
By Lee Wakefield
Welcome back to Meet Me at the Quarterback. I hope all of you had a great Christmas, or at least a good couple of days to unwind. Although I do hope that you managed to avoid the NFL games on Christmas Day. The less said about those games, the better, I think.
I had a week away from the article, being a little under the weather, and then thought I’d settle down for Christmas unless Myles Garrett broke the sack record. However, there is a developing storyline in Las Vegas that the Raiders’ star pass rusher, Maxx Crosby, is being shut down for the rest of the regular season – The team announced he was heading to IR on Saturday evening – and after he was informed of this decision by Head Coach Pete Carroll, he left the Raiders’ training facility.
This has led to questions about Crosby’s long-term future in Sin City. I’m going to explore potential routes out for one of the better pass rushers in the NFL, since I did recently wish to see Crosby on a competitive team at some point…
So, How Did We Get Here?
We seem to have an annual tradition of which star pass rusher has trade rumours surrounding him? Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons have been the candidates in the past couple of years. Is it the turn of Maxx Crosby?
The context is that Crosby has been suffering from a nagging knee injury since Las Vegas lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in week 7. The season is dead, and the Raiders’ game against the Giants tomorrow is essentially loser gets the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Crosby is a Raiders lifer, drafted to Oakland in 2019 in the fourth round out of Eastern Michigan. Over his time with the organisation, he’s developed into one of the best pass rushers in the league. In my recent article in this space, where I built the perfect pass rusher, I had Crosby’s run defending as part of that. Crosby has 10 sacks this season, his fifth season with double-digits. He’s set a career-high of 28 tackles for loss. And whilst it’s not been the best season of Crosby’s career, he’s still an iron man of the NFL who rarely, if ever, misses time.
On the other side of this, the Raiders’ season has been a disaster. Bringing in Pete Carroll and Geno Smith was meant to signal that this new era of Raiders football, with Tom Brady in the building, was supposed to be them having adults in the room. They were meant to be working towards making waves in a crowded AFC West. You don’t need me to say that it has not worked out that way for Las Vegas.
The Raiders might have the first overall pick, and they might want to tear things down to the studs and rebuild this franchise from the ground up. That might mean Carroll is one-and-done in the desert, that a new QB is under centre in week 1 of the ‘26 season, and perhaps trading away their best player, who has a very tradeable contract for a haul of draft picks, might just be the way forward.
Let’s look at that contract then…
Back in March of this year, Crosby signed a “multi-year extension”, which runs through to the end of the 2029 season. Crosby is 28 years old now, so that contract takes him through to thirty-two, and therefore secures him through what will likely be his physical prime.
Despite the contract being a $106.5m extension, with $91.5m in guarantees, the structure means that if the Raiders trade him pre-June 1st, there is only around $5m dead cap as a deterrent, which is very palatable for a rebuilding team. The acquiring team would take on his fully guaranteed salaries for 2026 ($30m) and the conditional guarantees for 2027.
If you’re a team with the cap space and the ambition, it’s a ready-made, top-notch pass rusher who you can acquire in his prime years. As much as this would be painful for the Raiders, this is the sort of move rebuilding teams need to make in order to have the means to do so and expedite that timeline. So, who are my top candidates to do so?
Philadelphia Eagles
Should we ever rule out the Eagles and Howie Roseman when it comes to high-end trade targets?
If Maxx Crosby is going to be traded, Philadelphia feels like the cleanest all-around destination. From a roster and scheme perspective, Crosby fits exactly what the Eagles value defensively: relentless effort, edge-setting toughness, and pressure that doesn’t rely on blitzing. Philly’s defensive front has depth, but it lacks a true, every-snap closer who tilts protections and dictates game plans in January. Crosby would instantly become that player.
Financially, this is where the Eagles separate themselves from most contenders. No front office is more comfortable absorbing a premium contract and spreading the cost over multiple years. They plan for stars, budget for them, and rarely blink when an elite player becomes available. Crosby’s deal is large, but manageable within Philadelphia’s long-term cap philosophy. The synergy of Jeffrey Lurie’s chequebook and Howie’s creativity makes this possible.
Despite an up-and-down season where the Eagles have taken a step back from the 2024 team that won the Super Bowl, this team are built to win now. They’re also pragmatic enough to recognise that championship windows are fragile. Adding Crosby would be a move designed specifically for playoff football – shortening games, protecting leads, and closing out tight contests.
I also feel that of all of the teams I’m going to mention, Crosby fits the aesthetic and feel of an Eagles player the most.
San Francisco 49ers
How about Crosby heading back to the Bay Area?
From a pure football standpoint, it’s hard to imagine a better schematic fit for Maxx Crosby than San Francisco. Pairing Crosby with (hopefully healthy again) Nick Bosa would force offences into impossible situations and give the 49ers the kind of pass rush that can dominate postseason games without needing schematic help.
A side note of this move would be that this would also allow them to bring Mykel Williams along more slowly and also allow Robert Saleh to cook up some packages with all three of his top rushers on the field simultaneously.
The complication with this one is financial. The 49ers already carry several premium contracts and operate closer to the cap ceiling than most contenders. Although they are currently scheduled to have around $44m of cap space going into 2026.
Trading for Crosby would require a big commitment, in terms of restructures, future sacrifices, and an acceptance that this is an all-in move rather than a flexible one. It’d be similar to the move they made to acquire Christian McCaffrey a couple of years ago, but just for the defensive side of the ball.
The 49ers have come up short, falling at the final hurdle a couple of times in recent years, and Kyle Shanahan will be desperate to hoist a Lombardi one day. Is this the sort of move that they need to pull to get over the hump?
The offence, health permitting, should be high-powered every year. George Kittle and McCaffrey aren’t getting any younger… Do they just need to bring the defence up to a similar level?
Detroit Lions
Detroit might be the most fascinating option because of timing. Despite being destined to miss the playoffs this year, the Lions are legitimate contenders.
Aidan Hutchinson can’t do everything alone up front for Detroit. Adding Maxx Crosby would instantly transform Detroit’s defence from disruptive to suffocating. Al-Quadin Muhammad has put together a nine-sack season so far, and is on an expiring deal; perhaps they’ll allow someone else to pay him. Brad Holmes will take the compensatory pick and open up the spot for Crosby.
From a scheme and culture perspective, Crosby feels tailor-made for Detroit. His relentless style, physical edge, and leadership would resonate immediately in a locker room built around toughness and accountability. This would be a tone-setting move as much as a tactical one.
Financially, Detroit can make this work. Although it will take some moving of money around. The Lions were probably going to have to do that anyway; they are only down to have around $14m of cap space moving into the offseason, and they’ll want to do some extensions with the likes of Jack Campbell and Jahmyr Gibbs. The Lions can have their cake and eat it too, perhaps by restructuring Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown, as well as Taylor Decker, potentially retiring.
The Super Bowl window remains open, and despite missing the playoffs this year, I don’t see it closing. This raises the biggest question: Does the front office believe it’s time to push all the chips in?
Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have been willing to zig, and others would zag when it aligns with the team’s long-term vision, but he hasn’t rushed the process. Trading for Crosby would signal that Detroit believes its window is now, not a year away. If they reach that conclusion, this fit becomes very real, very fast. They might need to move like this in what looks like a division that’ll be a bloodbath for the next decade.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have long relied on scheme pressure, versatility, and depth rather than one dominant edge presence. Crosby would change that dynamic immediately, giving Baltimore a true closer who can win one-on-one and collapse games late. The need is certainly there – Recently traded-for, Dre’Mont Jones is currently the Ravens’ best pass rusher.
From a scheme perspective, Crosby would thrive in Baltimore’s defence; the only thing that may throw a spanner in that statement is if John Harbaugh pays for a poor season with his job come Black Monday.
Crosby could be paired with the Ravens’ chosen rent-a-pass rusher for 2026, and he’d elevate everyone around him on the defensive front. This and welcoming back Nnamdi Madubuike next year would allow the Ravens to generate pressure without exposing the secondary. This sort of front would allow them to use players from the second level and their defensive backs in their pass rush plan, so that pressure can come from all directions.
Cranking up the level of their defence and having Lamar Jackson back to full strength will surely allow the Ravens to challenge for the AFC North and the Super Bowl in 2026.
Financially, the Ravens are selective, not cheap. They rarely chase stars, but when they do, it’s because they believe the player defines a unit. This is how I’d categorise their addition of Roquan Smith a few years ago. Crosby fits that profile. His contract is significant, but Baltimore has the discipline and creativity to absorb it without torpedoing the roster.
The Super Bowl window is firmly open. The lingering question is appetite. The Ravens’ front office tends to value draft capital and internal development, making a trade of this magnitude less common. But with the sands of the AFC shifting slightly in 2025, the Ravens will be keen not to be lost in the shuffle in Lamar Jackson’s prime years.
Final Word
Philadelphia looks like the cleanest landing spot, San Francisco the most explosive, Detroit the boldest – but if this saga drags into the offseason, don’t be surprised if Baltimore quietly becomes the team that actually pulls the trigger.
Lee Wakefield
NFL Content Lead
Lee Wakefield IS A defensive line enthusiast, Chargers Sufferer, and LONG-TIME writer and podcaster with a number of publications. @Wakefield90 on twitter/X.