INDIANAPOLIS — The Maxx Crosby trade rumors hit a brick wall this weekend. The Las Vegas Raiders set a massive price tag. The rest of the NFL blinked.
If a rival team wants to pry the five-time Pro Bowler out of the desert before the 2026 season kicks off, they have to pay the Micah Parsons tax. Last August, the Green Bay Packers shipped two first-round picks and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas for Parsons. Raiders general manager John Spytek looked at that historic blockbuster and drew his line in the sand. Give Las Vegas two first-rounders and a premium starter, or hang up the phone.
Right now, general managers are hanging up.
Walking the halls of the Indiana Convention Center during the NFL Combine this week, you could almost feel the tension drop when executives realized the Raiders weren’t holding a fire sale. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler confirmed the sudden freeze, reporting that noise surrounding a potential exit has essentially flatlined.
Crosby remains an elite edge rusher. He dominated the trenches last season, racking up 73 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks before a knee issue forced the team to place him on injured reserve. That late-season shutdown caused obvious friction. Yet, Crosby spent January quietly rehabbing his knee inside the team facility, putting in the work while the outside world debated his future.
He turns 29 just before the 2026 campaign kicks off. He carries a base salary of $30 million this year. Teams simply do not want to mortgage their future draft capital for an aging, highly-paid defender—no matter how disruptive he is on the field. The Chicago Bears checked in, weighing a package that potentially included wide receiver DJ Moore, but a deal of that magnitude remains a long shot.
“I want to retire a Raider. There’s no question about that. I love being a Raider… [Winning is] all that matters to me, and I want Mark [Davis] to win.”
— Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders Defensive End
Spytek holds all the leverage. The Raiders sit on the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. They plan to rebuild the franchise around a rookie quarterback, and keeping a defensive anchor like Crosby accelerates that timeline. He forces double-teams. He wrecks opposing game plans. He sets the standard for the locker room.
If the trade market dries up entirely by the start of free agency on March 11, Las Vegas keeps its best player. Edge-needy teams like the Bears, Patriots, and Lions will have to pivot to the draft or secondary free-agent targets. Meanwhile, the Raiders avoid creating a massive crater on their defensive line, allowing them to focus their draft capital entirely on fixing the offense.
