The Las Vegas Raiders are once again listening to offers for star defensive end Maxx Crosby.
It’s a market that is expected to be quite a bit different than it was a week ago when the Raiders managed to fetch a pair of first-round picks, including one in the top half of the first round of this year’s draft, for a 28-year-old coming off his eighth surgery in seven seasons.
Not only is there a negative medical opinion working against any leverage the Raiders may have had, but also most teams around the league already have dipped into any cap space and even draft capital they could have used to make a deal.
The Dallas Cowboys, for instance, were believed to be the runners-up before Baltimore landed him originally. Dallas went on to trade for Rashan Gary from Green Bay instead.
There’s still a market for Crosby. It just means making a deal will be more difficult and could even prompt the Raiders to decide the best course of action would be to simply keep him.
Here are three teams that could still make a push to acquire one of the league’s elite defensive players:
Chicago Bears
The Bears were the betting favorites to land Crosby before Baltimore made the big offer to lure him away.
Chicago doesn’t have a ton of cap space at the moment, but there are ways to get flexible. It’s a team that clearly wanted to address the pass rush this offseason and that hasn’t really happened during the opening days of free agency.
The Bears believe their window is opening and could make the most sense to try to make a splash.
San Francisco 49ers
There was some buzz around the combine about a deal getting done between the former Bay Area rivals.
The 49ers are in win-now mode and could use an upgrade to the pass rush.
It may be uncomfortable for Raiders fans to think about watching Crosby in those colors, but the organization is more concerned with finding the best deal possible.
Philadelphia Eagles
A deal between Raiders general manager John Spytek and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who Spytek has called a mentor, would be interesting.
The Eagles may need to do some gymnastics with the salary cap, but they also have some players they could involve in a trade that could make Spytek listen.
A.J. Brown? Jalen Carter? Trade proposals may start to get creative at this point in the process.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
