The Raiders’ five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby has been one of the most frequently discussed trade candidates heading into Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, and a new trade pitch published today by Sports Illustrated would see the 6-foot-5, 255-pound edge rusher moved to the Dallas Cowboys in a proposal that even SI sees as a long-shot.
The Cowboys have until the NFL trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday to pry Crosby away from the Las Vegas Raiders, if they have this trade on their agenda.
Crosby wants to stay in Las Vegas, according to ESPN‘s Adam Schefter, but a struggling Dallas defense and two available first-round picks would keep the idea alive, according to the SI pitch.
An elite edge rusher is Dallas’ lone realistic fix for its defense, and the two first-rounders a Crosby deal requires are already on hand, according to SI.com‘s Mike Moraitis, who nonetheless puts the odds of his trade pitch becoming reality at 5%.
A Lapeer, Michigan, native who prepped in Colleyville, Texas, Crosby drew a single scholarship offer, from Eastern Michigan, according to CBS Sports. The Raiders took him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, and he has played only for them, becoming a five-time Pro Bowl selection who has totaled 73.5 sacks in his career.
He signed a three-year, $106.5 million extension in 2025 and became Eastern Michigan’s assistant general manager, the first active NFL player in such a role.
Maxx Crosby Trade Fit for the Dallas Cowboys’ Pass Rush
Crosby has four sacks in nine games this season, compared with 10 sacks in 15 games last season. Among 115 qualified edge defenders, his 87.0 PFF grade ranked fourth as of Oct. 24.
The Cowboys improved to 4-5 with a 27-23 win at Indianapolis, but the defense has 17 sacks and 26.2 points allowed per game and ranks 31st against the run at 147.4 yards.
Dallas managed just two pressures with a four-man rush against the Giants in the opener, then posted its highest pressure rate of the season, 45.5%, with three sacks in a 23-13 loss to Green Bay. Sunday, the defense recorded two sacks against Indianapolis.
Jadeveon Clowney, last year’s team leader with 8.5 sacks, left in the offseason, and Dallas replaced him with a committee built around Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku and Malachi Lawrence.
Dallas already sent a 2028 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth to Pittsburgh for cornerback Joey Porter Jr. Owner Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan this morning that his phone is quiet, he does not expect a significant trade, and the team has held no meaningful dialogue about a target in two or three weeks.
“But don’t count it out, a lot of things happen on this last day,” Jones said, according to Cowboys.com. Dallas will fill its running back need after Tyler Goodson’s knee injury through free agency, and the comments reinforce the 5% odds SI.com assigned.
Maxx Crosby Trade Price and the Las Vegas Raiders’ Stance
The Raiders already set a price. In March, Baltimore agreed to send the 14th overall pick and a 2027 first to Las Vegas, then backed out over medical concerns that allegedly surfaced in a physical.
The comparables cluster around two first-rounders. Green Bay sent two first-round picks and Kenny Clark for Micah Parsons in 2025. In 2018, the Raiders got two first-rounders, a third and a sixth for Khalil Mack, though Oakland threw in a second-round pick. Cleveland received Jared Verse and three draft picks for Myles Garrett in June.
Crosby is 29 with a surgically repaired knee, and the AP noted that the medical red flag complicates matching the return, suggesting a second-round pick that converts to a first on snap count. The realistic price is two first-round picks, the figure Las Vegas accepted in March, with conditional picks the likeliest compromise.
Why would the Raiders listen? The relationship frayed last season when the team shut him down against his wishes with two games left. Las Vegas opened 3-0, then lost four straight, with No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza waiting behind Kirk Cousins, Schefter reported. SI.com‘s Moraitis would not rule out a deal if the Raiders receive “an offer they can’t refuse.”
Crosby has repeated his stance publicly.
“I love being a Raider. I’ve said that a million times,” he said, as quoted by Pro Football Talk.
Cowboys Trade Pitch Lands Raiders’ Maxx Crosby in Long Shot Deadline Blockbuster