The Las Vegas Raiders are one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now amid their 3-0 start. After last season, things were looking bleak for the franchise.
So bleak that franchise cornerstone Maxx Crosby had requested a trade. The Raiders granted his request and agreed to a deal with the Baltimore Ravens before they backed out. That ended up being a great thing for Crosby and the Raiders.
It’s still early in the season, but the 3-0 start shows that Las Vegas is closer to competing for a playoff spot than previously thought. Trade talk surrounding Crosby’s name has started to quiet. ESPN’s Dan Graziano gave the latest on Crosby, and he doesn’t see the defensive end getting dealt, even if the Raiders start losing.
“Crosby is on this list because he’s a huge name who has been on these lists for a year now,” Graziano wrote. “Heck, he actually did get traded to the Ravens for two first-round picks in March, but Baltimore backed out of the deal because of concerns over his physical. He’s at the end of this list instead of the beginning because, well, I don’t think the Raiders are actually going to trade him.
“The Raiders are 3-0 and very clearly better than most of us thought they were going to be. Even if they go 1-5 in their next six games, they’d be 4-5 at the deadline and would have no obvious need to throw in the towel. If they do better than that, they could be adding at a position such as wide receiver or defensive line.”
Crosby Has Good Relationship With Raiders
Crosby always wanted to spend his whole career with the Raiders. The relationship got fractured after a really ugly 2025 season, but it’s a very different situation right now.
Graziano says the Raiders and Crosby are in a good place.
“Crosby’s relationship with the team is, by all accounts, in a much better place than it was at the end of last season, and he’s enjoying the early success of the Klint Kubiak era,” Graziano wrote. “Teams will continue to ask, especially if he keeps playing well and looking healthy, but the Raiders don’t have to trade him, and I don’t think they will unless they get blown away by an offer the way they were by the Ravens’ deal in the spring.”
Crosby More Important to Raiders Than Ever
Even if the Raiders go on a slump and finish the season with seven or eight wins, it’s clear they’re headed in the right direction. This season could have the same feel as Jack Del Rio’s first season with the team in 2015, when they went 7-9 before going 12-4 the following season.
The Raiders might be closer to contending than anybody expected. That’s what good coaching can do to a franchise. If the team makes the playoffs this season, there’s almost no scenario in which they trade Crosby.
He’s a winning player who is still making a huge impact. The Raiders aren’t going to trade their best defensive player unless a team is willing to make an offer they can’t refuse.
Latest On Possible Maxx Crosby Trade Provided by Insider