Maxx Crosby's spring was a legitimate rollercoaster. Las Vegas agreed to send him to the Ravens for a pair of first-round picks back in March, only for Baltimore to back out of the deal after his physical flagged a degenerative issue in his left knee. Instead of packing for Baltimore, Crosby stayed a Raider and has spent the months since publicly recommitting to the only franchise he's ever played for.
Schefter relays that Crosby has told people he's "all in" and wants to be a "Raider for life," while noting that commitment could get tested as the trade deadline nears.
The loyalty talk is easy to say in August. It gets a lot harder to believe in November if the Raiders are staring down another lost season. That's exactly the scenario Schefter has been floating: if Las Vegas is sitting somewhere around 1-6 or 2-5 as the October 31st deadline approaches, and Crosby is still playing at an elite level, the calculus could change fast, with teams like the Bears reportedly among those who'd be interested.
It's worth remembering how close Crosby actually came to leaving. The Ravens were prepared to hand over 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, which would have been the first time in franchise history Baltimore traded away a first-rounder for a player. That deal died only because of what the knee showed up on film during the physical, not because either side cooled on it.
Las Vegas has already shown it's willing to pay to keep him. Crosby signed a 3-year, $106.5 million extension with the Raiders in March 2025 that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league at the time, tying him to the franchise through 2029. That's the third time in 4 years the two sides have gone back to the negotiating table, which says plenty about how much the organization has built around him even as the roster's struggled to keep pace.
So for now, the marriage holds. Crosby gets to keep chasing sacks in silver and black, the Raiders get to keep their best player and their best trade chip in the same building, and everybody gets to kick the real decision down the road to whenever the record forces the issue.