Raiders Star Maxx Crosby Could Welcome Trade to Packers
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (15) and Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby (98) embrace during their game in November. / Jay
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Las Vegas Raiders star Maxx Crosby has never asked to be traded. However, if the Raiders view Crosby as a commodity to help a rebuild rather than a centerpiece of that rebuild, the Green Bay Packers logically would be among his preferred teams.
Importantly, Crosby, a fourth-round pick by the Oakland Raiders, would find some friendly faces in the Green Bay locker room.
Crosby was a teammate with running back Josh Jacobs for five seasons. At the Super Bowl, Jacobs pointed to defensive end as a position of need and said he’sabout joining the Packers.
Crosby was a teammate with defensive back Keisean Nixon for three seasons. On X on Tuesday,lBisaccia spent three seasons alongside Crosby with the Raiders, including the 2021 season, when Bisaccia was interim coach and the Raiders earned their one and only playoff berth during Crosby’s six seasons in the league. the time in throwing his support behind Bisaccia to get the full-time job. “I love Rich. I think he’s the best man for the job. … Rich is the real deal. He’s a leader of men.”
Crosby is one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL. While the Packers finished 10th in sack percentage, they were unable to apply a consistent pass rush.
With six dominant seasons under his belt, Crosby would change that. He was runner-up for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2019, when he had 10 sacks. In 2021, he was second-team All-Pro with eight sacks.
In 2022, he finished sixth in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting with 12.5 sacks and an NFL-leading 23 tackles for losses. In 2023, he was second-team All-Pro and finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting with 14.5 sacks and an NFL-leading 23 tackles for losses.
In 2024, Crosby earned his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl accolades by finishing with 7.5 sacks and 17 tackles for losses in 12 games. He missed the final four games of the season following ankle surgery. Crosby missed zero games in his first five seasons.
Since entering the NFL in 2019, Crosby is No. 1 in the league with 105 tackles for losses, No. 5 with 59.5 sacks and No. 5 with 144 quarterback hits.
The question the Raiders are working through is whether Crosby will remain the face of the franchise. Along with new coach Pete Carroll, they have a new general manager in John Spytek. The Raiders have the second-most cap space but a roster filled with holes.
“The Raiders still don’t have a franchise quarterback and have a ton of work to do to field a competitive rosterTrading Crosby for a bounty of picks would be one way to expedite that process, and Crosby might welcome the change, particularly if it’s to a playoff team where he knows people (e.g. Green Bay).”
Crosby sounded encouraged from his early talks with Carroll.
“For me, I’m an optimistic person. I want to be a winner. I want a chance to win,” . “From everything I’ve seen so far, it’s been encouraging. Taking it one step at a time and we’ll see how everything plays out, but I’m excited for the future, for sure.”
Crosby is a remarkable ironman. The past three seasons, Crosby played 96 percent of the defensive snaps in 2022, 95 percent in 2023 and 97 percent in 2024.
During those three seasons, there were 30 games in which a defensive lineman played 100 percent of the snaps. Crosby played 23 of those games.
“I’ve asked Rich a million times and he just said he’s different,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said before the 2023 loss at the Raiders. “He just relentless. I don’t know any other way to describe it. I haven’t seen too many guys that can compete at that high of a level for that long a period of time. It’s pretty impressive.”
Despite statistics that might signal to the contrary, one league source this week said the Packers’ defensive line was filled with “studs,” and that scheme and roles, not talent, curtailed the production of the likes of Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness.
The potential addition of Crosby, who will turn 28 during training camp and is under contract through 2026 with base salaries of about $22.2 million in 2025 and $18.8 million in 2026, could put the Packers “over the hump,” he said.
While Crosby has remained loyal to the Raiders, he also wants to win.
“I just think it’s his tenacity in which he plays the game,” LaFleur said in 2023. “Obviously, he’s incredibly talented, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a guy that works as hard as he does and can sustain that for 70 plays. He rarely comes out of the game and he’s going to give you everything he has on every play. …
“He is relentless. If you think you have him blocked for a second and you let up, he ends up finding a way to swim you or maneuver around you and hit the quarterback. He is constantly hitting the quarterback, whether the quarterback’s got the ball in his hands or not or he’s just releasing it. This guy is a special player. He’s one of the best players in this league.”
