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Adam Schefter, Senior Writer, ESPN
For teams still considering tactics to acquire Maxx Crosby, and for fan bases imagining what the Pro Bowl defensive end would look like in their team’s uniform, those conversations may be formally wrong.
Raiders owner Mark Davis quashed the hopes and wishes of league front offices and fans this weekend when he flatly ignored the belief that Las Vegas would land its best player.
“We are not trading Maxx Crosby,” Davis said in an email to ESPN. “Before or after the trade deadline!!!”
Despite the Raiders’ unwillingness to deal their most frequent player, teams have had to explore tactics of late to see if Crosby can be acquired, league assets told ESPN.
The groups have internally debated whether there is a way to get Crosby, and some have reached out to the Raiders with questions.
The Raiders, on the other hand, have necessarily shut down speculation. A league source familiar with other teams’ efforts told ESPN that “it would be beyond shocking” if Crosby were traded before the NFL’s Nov. 5 deadline.
Richard Seymour, a minority shareholder in the Untouched Raiders, stated on “The Adam Schefter Podcast” around this time that he may no longer imagine the Raiders buying and selling the “heartbeat of our team.”
“If I’m the Lions, I want to go get Maxx Crosby too,” Seymour said on the podcast. “Why wouldn’t they? He’s the heartbeat of our team. But that would be Mark Davis’ decision, and I don’t see him making that decision to trade Maxx Crosby.”
Crosby is beloved throughout the Raiders team, especially through Davis.
Crosby said this time on his podcast that he wants to stay with the Raiders and addressed trade speculation involving the Lions, who are without injured superstar defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.
“I’m sitting here innocently and doing what I do, and I feel like I have to address it with my teammates,” he said on “The Rush With Maxx Crosby” podcast. “I say, ‘I’m not trying to leave.’
“I don’t have one hundred percent control and all that, but I want to be here. I want to be silver and cloudy. I’ll say it loud and fucking clear: I want to be a Raider.” . “I’ve said it over and over again.”
The Raiders already made a high-profile splash in the industry, sending star receiver Davante Adams to the Untouched York Jets for a conditional third-round pick.
Teams like the Lions still hoping to post pass rush help before the trade deadline now have to look elsewhere. One of the logical trade targets is former Cleveland Browns Professional Bowl defensive end Za’Darius Smith, who has attracted some attention around the league.
Smith has the resume, skill and a good salary this season to make him attractive to other teams, and league assets said they wouldn’t be surprised if the Browns offered him before the deadline.
Crosby, 27, has 6.5 sacks this season, a figure that places him sixth in the NFL. The three-time Pro Bowler has played his entire career with the Raiders, recording 58.5 sacks in 89 games over five-plus seasons.
