Over the past few seasons, there has been no doubt that the leader and best player on the Las Vegas Raiders has been star defensive end Maxx Crosby. He has embodied everything that it means to be a Raider and has led this franchise with pride while establishing himself as one of the premier defensive players in the NFL.
However, his frustrations over the state of the franchise have grown over the past couple of years as he has made it know that he wants to be in the playoffs competing for championships. And while he would prefer for that to be with the Raiders, the franchise has still been far away from a title contender.
Rumors had been surrounding Crosby for years, and new head coach Klint Kubiak has spoken about wanting the star defender to remain with the franchise going forward. But that won’t be the case as the Raiders have finally pulled the trigger trading Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens, via Adam Schefter of ESPN:
ESPN sources: the Raiders agreed to trade five-time Pro-Bowl DE Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for 2026 and 2027 first-round picks.
The trade cannot be processed until next week, but it is in place. And Crosby is expected to be a Raven with two 1s back to Vegas. pic.twitter.com/rfExCLpXfF
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 7, 2026
It has seemed like just a matter of time before the Raiders finally traded Crosby and now it has happened. Crosby now gets what he wants in landing on a team that can make the playoffs and compete in Baltimore, while the Raiders get an impressive draft haul in return.
Even with the return, however, it is still hard to say goodbye to one of the best players in recent franchise history. In seven seasons, Crosby totaled 439 tackles, 133 tackles for loss, 164 QB hits, 69.5 sacks, 29 passes defensed and 11 forced fumbles.
Crosby will be greatly missed both on the field and in the locker room and the Raiders will need someone to step up and fill that void as they continue on this rebuilding path.
What Raiders got back for Maxx Crosby
Recent reports indicated that the Raiders were looking for a package similar to the Micah Parsons one if they trade Maxx Crosby.
Now that the deal is done, they almost got there as similar to the Dallas Cowboys, they got two first round picks back, just not a solid veteran starter to go along with it.
Included in that haul though is the 14th pick in this year’s draft, so the Raiders now have two premium picks between that and No. 1 overall to kickstart their rebuild.
