The Las Vegas Raiders are heading toward a total rebuild. The roster has holes everywhere.
Defensive end Maxx Crosby is the team’s best player, which also means he’s their most valuable. The Raiders don’t want to trade him. Owner Mark Davis has made that abundantly clear.
As badly as the team doesn’t want to trade him, he’d get them a haul in return. He’ll be 29 when next season starts. He might be too old to want to stick around for a rebuild. In James Fragoza’s latest mock draft for Pro Football Network, he projects the Raiders to trade Crosby to the Dallas Cowboys for their 2026 first-round pick and a third-round pick in 2027. With the first-round pick, Las Vegas would add Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell.
“Oh, look, another star veteran is on the move! Maxx Crosby’s frustrations have finally started to come out, and if he ever wants to play meaningful football in January, he’ll need a fresh start,” Fragoza wrote. “The Raiders grant him just that, as the Cowboys use their newfound draft capital to land an elite pass rusher (didn’t they use to have one of those?).
“Las Vegas finally addresses its paltry CB room by bringing in Avieon Terrell, the younger brother of former Falcons first-rounder A.J. The younger Terrell has posted three straight years of consistently solid tape. While the highs may not be as high as others, the lows aren’t nearly as low either.”
Should Raiders Consider Trading Crosby?
The Raiders have had Crosby for six seasons, and the team only had a winning record in one of them. As great a player as he is, Las Vegas just has so many holes they need to fill.
Now, Fragoza’s pitch of a first and third-round pick for Crosby is way too low. The Raiders aren’t trading him for anything less than two first-round picks. A couple of extra first-round picks would go a long way in rebuilding the roster.
That said, Crosby isn’t too old, and he’s a great player to have around to help develop young players. If he doesn’t ask for a trade, the Raiders might not do it, but it’s easy to see the logic of them moving him if he wants out.
Raiders Also Land Franchise QB in Mock Draft
Also in the mock draft, the Raiders would land Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 2 pick.
“Mendoza knows how to lead a team and has benefited from the talent around him, just as Moore has,” Fragoza wrote. “That said, Mendoza has more tape when extending into his time at Cal. While experience is a premium, especially in this QB economy, the relative lack of upside compared to Moore is enough to ‘drop’ Mendoza down to No. 2 overall.”
Losing Crosby hurts, but adding Mendoza would certainly be a nice way to soften the blow. He has the potential to be a long-term franchise quarterback for the team. As important as Crosby is to the team, a quarterback can change a franchise overnight. The Raiders need a savior, and perhaps that player is Mendoza.
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