The Las Vegas Raiders have been one of the more disappointing teams across the NFL through the first seven weeks of the new season. While they started their campaign off with a win over the New England Patriots in Week 1, the Raiders have lost five of their six games since then, and it doesn’t appear as if they are particularly close to becoming a competitive football team anytime soon.
As a result of their struggles, Las Vegas is expected to operate as a seller ahead of the upcoming trade deadline. Unsurprisingly, one guy who is drawing quite a bit of interest is superstar defensive end Maxx Crosby, but the rumors surrounding a potential deal involving Crosby were recently shut down by team owner Mark Davis.
Mark Davis Addresses Maxx Crosby Trade Rumors
Despite making several big moves over the offseason, the Raiders have been a complete mess so far this year. Their offense, led by new quarterback Geno Smith, has struggled to get much of anything going as of late, and their defense, which was known to have several big holes entering the season, hasn’t been able to pick up the slack.
As has usually been the case for Crosby throughout his career, he’s been one of the only bright spots for his team. Crosby has 28 tackles, four sacks, one interception, five pass deflections, and one fumble forced through seven games, and even with Las Vegas struggling to do much of anything right, opposing teams still have to worry about the All-Pro pass rusher every time he’s on the field.
Considering how poorly things have gone for the Raiders, it seems like a rebuild may be in the cards for them sooner than expected, which could make moving on from Crosby a realistic possibility. And yet, while several teams have checked in on his availability, Davis has no interest in dealing away his team’s best player.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve got to say it,” Davis said of the trade rumors surrounding Crosby, per Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. “It’s really hard to keep getting asked the same question every month or week or whatever when the answer’s going to stay the same. I don’t know why anybody would think I’d change my mind or the organization would.”
Should the Raiders Trade Maxx Crosby?
GettyMaxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Right off the bat, Crosby signed a three-year, $106.5 million contract extension with the Raiders over the offseason, making any potential trade involving him quite unlikely. Things can change quickly in the NFL, though, and with Las Vegas looking like one of the worst teams in the league, it’s fair to wonder if they would consider cashing in on Crosby and getting several valuable future assets in return for him.
That doesn’t seem to be something Davis is considering, though, and unless Crosby requests a trade, the chances of the Raiders changing their mind appear to be low. You can make a case that it would be beneficial for Las Vegas to trade Crosby, but the formula of a bad team trading away its best players is never as simple as it appears to be. So, unless the Raiders get truly blown away by a trade offer for Crosby, he will be sticking around for the long haul.
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