The Las Vegas Raiders say they do not want to trade star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, but would a Micah Parsons-style haul change everything? Here’s what it could take to move him.
The Crosby rumor cycle is easy to understand—and easy to overstate. The Patriots (and plenty of others) can call, but the reporting to this point reads less like a trade setup and more like a deterrent.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the Raiders do not want to trade Crosby and that even entertaining it would require a “Micah Parsons-type package.” That phrasing matters. It is a “make-me-move” price, not an invitation to negotiate. The Parsons deal was an extreme market event: Dallas sent a younger, peak-value edge to Green Bay for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks. Using that as the benchmark is a signal that Las Vegas would rather keep the player than discover his true market.
New England’s fit is also being inflated by convenience. The Patriots can offer a late first-rounder (No. 31) and future picks, but meeting an elite-edge benchmark usually requires either blue-chip draft capital at the top of round one or two or a premium young starter plus multiple high picks. If the Raiders are serious about building around a new coaching staff and a roster reset, they have little incentive to swap a foundational player for a package that lands closer to “quantity” than “cornerstone.”
Should the Raiders even be taking calls?
Las Vegas has been pretty consistent in public about what it wants here. New coach Klint Kubiak said he wants Maxx Crosby “to be a part of our success going forward,” and owner Mark Davis has backed that up. Teams usually do not speak that plainly if they are shopping for a star. That kind of messaging is what you put out when you are trying to keep the situation calm and keep your leverage.
The bigger issue is trust, not the trade package. Albert Breer reported that there is “fence-mending” to do after the way the team handled communication around Crosby’s late-season injury and that Alex Guerrero’s involvement in the messaging rubbed Crosby the wrong way.
But that is also why a trade is not the only—or even the cleanest—answer. Fix the process. Tighten the chain of command. Let the medical staff lead medical decisions. Most of all, communicate directly and clearly with the player. Those are solvable problems, and they cost a lot less than replacing a cornerstone edge rusher.
And yes, Dianna Russini has said Crosby would be interested in playing for Mike Vrabel. That can be true without turning into a formal trade demand that forces the Raiders’ hand. Until a team puts a real “can’t say no” offer on the table, the most realistic read is that the noise stays loud—and the scenario stays mostly hypothetical.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images
Look the only one’s talking about any Mad Max. Is you! Crosby has stated he is rehabbing and staying out of the politics of the front office choosing coaching personal and he is happy he has nothing to do with it this time around. Crosby is not going anywhere, lets stop with all this Gibberish talk on Crosby. Find a better sound topic, this is all getting very Old!!