Has Maxx Crosby played his last game for the Las Vegas Raiders?
As The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported Saturday, there is a growing belief the team is open to moving the Pro-Bowl edge rusher despite a three-year $106.5 million contract extension in March.
The rift between the 2-14 Raiders and their most recognizable player surfaced in December, when the team moved him to Injured Reserve amid reports he could require off-season knee surgery.
Crosby, though, apparently disagreed with that decision and has since left the team facility in Henderson, Nevada and returned home, where he’s posted video of himself playing basketball and jumping on a trampoline.
Head coach Pete Carroll, who is rumored to be on the hot seat in Henderson, told reporters he understood Crosby’s frustration with being sidelined.
‘He knows that he’s banged up, so he’s talking about, ‘I’d like to get out of here,’ Carroll said on December 26. ‘And I said, ‘Yeah, get out of here.’ So he took off.
Despite the reported meniscus problems with Maxx Crosby’s knee, he still had 10 sacks this season to lead the team, not to mention his first career interception
Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis walks off the field with minority partner Tom Brady
‘This didn’t just spring on him,’ Carroll continued. ‘We’ve been talking about it, and it was exactly what you would think he would do and he should do. I agree with him 1,000 percent on how he responded, and I [would have] responded the same way.’
Although the Raiders have defended the decision as being in the ‘best interest of both the franchise and the player,’ critics have accused the team of tanking in order to secure the first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Las Vegas lost last week to the last-place New York Giants without Crosby and a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s season finale would guarantee the Raiders the top pick in April, when Indiana quarterback and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza is expected to be taken first overall.
Head coach Pete Carroll is rumored to be on the hot seat in Las Vegas amid a two-win season
As for Crosby’s future in Las Vegas, the team and the player appear to be on two different schedules. The 28-year-old Eastern Michigan product has appeared in only one playoff game over seven seasons with the Raiders, who appear to be rebuilding once again.
But trading Crosby may not be so easy.
The Raiders will need to find a team with enough cap room to pay him an average annual salary of $30 million in 2026 and 2027. And in order to avoid taking a massive cap hit in 2027, Las Vegas will need to deal him before March 17, when his salary for the season becomes fully guaranteed.
Despite the reported meniscus problems with Crosby’s knee, he had 10 sacks this season to lead the team, not to mention his first career interception.