Maxx Crosby has made five back-to-back Pro Bowls in the past five years, and two second-team All-Pros… Well, that’s about all he can say about his time with the Las Vegas Raiders.
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Crosby and the team made the playoffs once in 2021 but exited in the first round. Can we even blame him for wanting out of a team that is struggling so much and is also going through a significant overhaul?
The short answer is no. Crosby should move out. And if it couldn’t get worse, a thing that has reportedly had the defensive end on edge is the involvement of Tom Brady and his personal guru, Alex Guerrero.
According to Michael Silver of The Athletic, since minority owner Brady can’t always be in the building, it’s Guerrero who’s taking care of business in his stead, including occasionally making sure everyone stays in line. And if Albert Breer is to be believed, it was Guerrero and Brady who might have (directly or indirectly) told Crosby at the end of the 2025 season that he was being sat down.
Breer began by saying that Crosby’s perception was that he was told he was being sat so the team could pursue the first overall pick. So basically, they were tanking.
“You know, right or wrong, I think his perception was that was communicated to him, that he was being sat down so the Raiders could pursue the first overall pick,” Breer said on the Rich Eisen Show.
But that’s something every team has done in the years past, right? Breer said, yes, but Crosby isn’t the type of player who would be comfortable with it, the NFL insider argued.
“I think you have to understand the psychology of Max here, too. Obviously, he’s a great player, he’s accomplished a lot, [and] he’s self-made. A former fourth-round pick who’s risen to the highest level at his level, and he’s played just one playoff game. And so, if you haven’t had the chance to have team success over a seven-year career, what are your points of pride?” Breer asked.
“Well, it’s all pros. It’s Pro Bowls. It’s being able to say you were there every week for your teammates and you answered the bell for them. And that stuff, I think, Maxx Crosby takes a ton of pride in. So, the idea of that being taken away from him, you can understand where that would cut you differently,” he added.
So, Crosby wasn’t just sat down by the coaching staff. The decision might have come from someone like Guerrero, who had his sway in the medical evaluation. From Crosby’s perspective, Guerrero is someone who isn’t actually part of the team. And as Breer noted, Crosby has a good relationship with the ownership, including Mark Davis. So the situation likely felt like a bit of a betrayal.
On top of that, Crosby even sought outside medical advice for the knee issue that led to him being shut down. According to those evaluations, he was told he could play through the pain. That might have added to the frustration that pushed him further away from the team.
With everything that has happened, a Crosby trade now seems inevitable. Teams like the Eagles and Bears have already been mentioned as possible destinations.
However, the Raiders have reportedly asked for two first-round picks and more in return. That steep price could complicate things.
