The Detroit Lions are aiming for a rapid rebuild after missing the playoffs in 2025, and one analyst suggests they could kick-start it with an all-in trade for Maxx Crosby.
The Lions were listed as trade candidates the first time the Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher hit the trade block, and before his ultimately failed trade to the Baltimore Ravens. There is speculation that the Raiders could try again to trade Crosby, with SI.com’s Vito Chirco suggesting the Lions could be a top option.
Maxx Crosby Would Transform Detroit’s Defense
In a rundown of Detroit’s potential trade targets during the NFL draft, Chirco suggested that making a run at Crosby would prove the Lions are committed to a Super Bowl.
“If the Lions want to show they are truly all-in, they should do whatever it takes to land Crosby,” Chirco wrote.
Chirco noted that the Lions have been trying to find a competent counterpart to star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, and Crosby would force opposing defenses into a nearly impossible choice on where to put their focus.
“The five-time Pro Bowler, coming off a 10-sack season in Las Vegas, would be the perfect running mate for fellow Pro Bowler Aidan Hutchinson,” Chirco wrote. “And most importantly, lining up the Eastern Michigan product opposite Hutchinson would make Detroit legitimate Super Bowl contenders.”
Chirco added that it could be costly for the Lions to land Crosby, but general manager Brad Holmes might be willing to make that kind of move this offseason.
“If the Raiders come calling, I’d be all ears if I were Brad Holmes,” Chirco wrote. “And I’d push all my trade chips into the middle of the table for Crosby, truly a difference-making talent at EDGE.”
Lions Balked at Maxx Crosby Before
The Lions appeared to pull out of the Crosby trade speculation before. Lions president Ron Wood told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press in March that the Lions “never were in the game” for Crosby when he first hit the trade block, suggesting that the cost was too high.
“When we’re looking at our cash and cap budget, we’re looking at it as is and as it will be with those guys knowing that we want to keep many of them, all of them if we can,” Wood said.
Wood added that there would be no way for the Lions to land Crosby and still keep the players they had developed and re-signed themselves.
“So if we had gone out and done the biggest – let’s say we did the Maxx Crosby trade or the Trey Hendrickson signing, that probably would have meant, which one of these guys are we going to let go?”
But Crosby’s asking price could also go down compared to the first time he was on the trade block, which could allow the Lions to jump back into the mix.
Lions Face ‘All-In’ Maxx Crosby Trade Prediction