Getty Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams.
The Los Angeles Rams are focused on their Wild Card matchup versus the Detroit Lions.
But general manager Les Snead is not shy about making significant moves, and he could have an opportunity to pounce on one with Las Vegas Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby.
“The Las Vegas Raiders … continue to weigh a potential pursuit of [Jim] Harbaugh,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero wrote on January 13. “However … there remains support … for interim coach Antonio Pierce — including in the locker room, with All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby expressing he will explore a trade request if Pierce isn’t retained.”
Pierce has already interviewed with the Tennessee Titans.
The Rams have the draft capital to test that notion, such as in this hypothetical trade proposal for this offseason.
Rams get:
– Maxx Crosby
Raiders get:
– 2024 first-round pick
– 2024 second-round pick
– 2025 first-round pick
– 2025 third-round pick
There will be no shortage of suitors for Crosby if he indeed hits the trade block. A three-time Pro Bowler, he is coming off his second consecutive season of double-digit sacks. It is the third such campaign of his career, and he has never missed a game in five NFL seasons.
He is heading into the third year of a four-year, $94 million contract.
Maxx is really HIM 🦅
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Crosby confirmed that he would explore all of his options if Pierce left during his podcast.
“I’m going have to consider everything. Honestly, nothing’s off the table,” Crosby said on “The Rush with Maxx Crosby” on January 13. “I made it loud and clear that I want to be a Raider for life. I want to be here, I want to win here, I want to retire here. But if you go and start from scratch again, I got to consider everything. I mean everything.
“I want to be a Raider, for sure. But if we go in a different direction, then there’s nothing that’s off the table.”
Maxx Crosby Could Ease Burden on Aaron Donald
GettyAaron Donald #99 of the Los Angeles Rams.
The 26-year-old former No. 106 overall pick in 2019, Crosby, tallied 14.5 sacks this season. Los Angeles hasn’t had a double-digit-sack performance since Aaron Donald had 12.5 ahead of their Super Bowl run in 2021.
Rookie Kobie Turner led the team with 9.0 this season. And Leonard Floyd, now with the Buffalo Bills, led the team with 9.0 last season.
Floyd (2020) was the last EDGE defender to record double-digit sacks in a Rams uniform.
Dante Fowler did it the season before that, so it’s not a lengthy drought. But it shows how the Rams have relied on Donald to generate pressure since then, something Crosby would undoubtedly help with.
Rookie Byron Young (No. 77 overall) tied Donald with 8.0 sacks this season. And third-year man Michael Hoecht set a career-high with 6.0 sacks, starting all 17 games this season.
Donald, 32, has contemplated retirement in recent offseasons. An extended run this postseason could be all the push he needs. Even if he returns for an 11th season, the Rams could take a significant burden off of him by adding the threat of Crosby on the outside.
Rams Cap Sheet Sets Them Up for Blockbuster Trade
GettyMaxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Los Angeles is absorbing salary cap punishment this season and clearing the decks for next season,” wrote ESPN’s Adam Schefter in September. “After this season, in which the youth movement already is underway, the Rams will have a surplus of draft picks and cap space, allowing them to approach this year and their future differently.
The Rams carried $79.3 million in dead money on their books in 2023, per Spotrac.
They will have $48.2 million in cap space this offseason and could be in a unique position to acquire a player they can continue to build around on defense if he wants out of Las Vegas.