The first true blockbuster trade of the 2026 NFL offseason has happened before the league calendar even officially flipped. Edge defender Maxx Crosby is heading to the Ravens, with 2026 and 2027 first-round picks headed back to the Raiders, CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirms. The trade will become official March 11, when the new league year begins.
Crosby, 28, had been frustrated by the way the Raiders handled his knee injury, eventually leading to him being excused from the team facility with two games to go in a lost season for Las Vegas. Crosby, who had wanted to finish out the season, was said to be evaluating his future.
If his trade market was simmering, then it heated up quickly in the days leading up to the deal. Several teams had interest in the five-time Pro Bowler — ESPN reported that the Cowboys offered first- and second-round picks — but Baltimore ultimately won out. The Raiders, Jones reported, were looking for a package similar to the one the Cowboys received last offseason for Micah Parsons; Dallas netted two first-round picks and defensive lineman Kenny Clark.
Though the Raiders didn’t get a player back, they did get the two firsts, including the No. 14 overall pick in the 2026 draft. Here’s how both teams fared in a Friday-night stunner.
Ravens: A-
The Ravens have long been a draft-and-develop franchise. They are savvy with their moves all year long in order to accrue extra draft capital via the compensatory system. For the most part, they have drafted very well, whether it was moving up to draft Lamar Jackson with the final pick of the 2018 first round or finding solid contributors in the middle and late rounds. For as steady as they’ve been in recent history, it’s mostly been thanks to this measured approach.
But the 2025 Ravens were not like previous iterations of the Ravens. The preseason Super Bowl favorites quickly saw their roster’s flaws exposed. The defense got off to an awful start. Eventually, the run defense came around, but the pass defense still gave up too many big plays. Of course, part of that was due to a historically anemic pass rush. Baltimore was 28th in pressure rate and 31st in sack rate. The 4.6% sack rate was second-worst in franchise history. The team’s leading sack artist was Travis Jones, an interior defensive lineman who racked up five sacks. Only one other player — Tavius Robinson, who broke his foot and played in just 10 games — had four or more.
So the Ravens made an un-Ravens-like move. How un-Ravens-like? It’s the first time the franchise has traded a first-round pick … ever. The draft-and-develop strategy is great until either the drafting or the developing doesn’t happen. The Ravens’ well at edge rushers had dried up. Since 2021, the Ravens have used significant draft capital on an edge rusher in every draft:
- 2021: Odafe Oweh (1st round – 31st overall)
- 2022: David Ojabo (2nd round – 45th overall)
- 2023: Tavius Robinson (4th round – 124th overall)
- 2024: Adisa Isaac (3rd round -93rd overall)
- 2025: Mike Green (2nd round – 59th overall)
They traded Oweh after five games and zero sacks this season. Ojabo hardly played, and Isaac didn’t play at all.
All that leads us to Crosby, a player whom every football fan should adore. He’s earned the “Mad Maxx” nickname in the very best way. He never comes off the field, he plays with relentless energy and impressive skill, he can dominate against the run or the pass, and he desperately, desperately wants to win. Despite little pass-rush help around him, he has had double-digit sacks three of the past four years. That includes a 12.5-sack 2022 and a 14.5-sack 2023. He also led the NFL in tackles for loss both seasons.
Since 2022, Crosby has had 90 tackles for loss, tied with Myles Garrett for most in the NFL. No one else has more than 72. Crosby’s 186 solo tackles over that span are also by far the most of any defensive lineman; Danielle Hunter is a distant second with 159. Crosby led all edge defenders in ESPN’s run stop win rate in 2025.
Of course, the Ravens are far more interested in the player he’ll be than the player he’s been. In that regard, Baltimore fans should be encouraged. Now under the direction of former Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, the Ravens are going to deploy an aggressive defense that aims to put an air-tight lock on everything offenses want to do, especially downfield. Minter has seen Crosby up close and personal the past two years as an AFC West rival. He knows just how disruptive Crosby is, and he will find ways to use him to Baltimore’s advantage. Furthermore, Crosby’s game should age well. While he is a tremendous athlete, his game isn’t solely based on athleticism. He is an absolute force. The injuries (seven games missed over the past two years) are noteworthy but not overly concerning.
The Ravens, despite last year’s lack of pass-rush production, do have pieces capable of ensuring teams can’t focus solely on Crosby. Jones is a very steady interior defender with some disruptive ability, too. Pro Football Focus rated him the third-best interior run defender in the NFL. The bigger question will be Nnamdi Madubuike’s status. The two-time Pro Bowler played in just two games before a season-ending neck injury. ESPN’s Jamison Hensley reported earlier this week that the team is unsure if Madubuike can play in the future, though he was recently spotted working out.
Madubuike is a truly disruptive interior presence. He had 13.5 sacks on his way to second-team All-Pro honors in 2023. If he can play at a high level in 2026, the Madubuike-Jones-Crosby trio is true nightmare fuel for opposing offenses. Baltimore would certainly love to see Green explode in Year 2, and maybe a new coaching staff can get the best out of him or some of the other youngsters in Baltimore’s EDGE room.
But in Crosby, the Ravens don’t have to wonder if one of their youngsters can develop. Instead, they can lean on a superstar. Think about recent Super Bowl champs. They all had game wreckers up front: Chris Jones, Aaron Donald, a plethora of Eagles and Seahawks. The Ravens haven’t had a player like that — and very Crosby very much is one — since Terrell Suggs.
After hitting a lot of singles and doubles, GM Eric DeCosta is swinging for the fences. It’s the right time to do it. The 2025 season showed the Ravens simply weren’t good enough after years of the status quo. In Crosby, Baltimore fixes one of its biggest problems at one of the game’s most important positions. Should he deliver and elevate the Ravens in the biggest moments — moments they’ve failed to deliver in before — the cost is irrelevant.
Raiders: A
However things ended with Crosby is in the past. The Raiders’ 2025 — from hiring Pete Carroll and trading for Geno Smith and trying to make a win-now team out of a team far from winning — was a disaster. We’ll hope that Mark Davis, Jon Spytek and Tom Brady have learned their lesson.
This trade is a good step, indicating they have. Or at least they’re starting to. With presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza incoming, Las Vegas must make marked improvements around him on offense and opposite him on defense. Tying down such significant money to a disgruntled win-now player — no matter how good that player is — was always going to be a burden.
But the real win here is the draft capital. Every team should want a Maxx Crosby, but the Raiders were uniquely positioned to turn him into tremendous value instead. Las Vegas gets the No. 14 pick in the 2026 draft and next year’s first-round pick from Baltimore as well.
The key here has to be patience. Las Vegas has deep pockets this offseason — pockets that just got deeper with this move. That doesn’t mean they should immediately go after splashy veteran additions. Instead, they must build from the ground up. Mendoza needs wide receivers. Multiple. He really needs offensive linemen. Again, multiple. The defense needs help everywhere. The Raiders now have seven picks in the first four rounds of the upcoming draft.
Las Vegas ought to build slowly but not lazily. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was The Palazzo, Vegas’ homage to Italy. The Crosby move wipes the slate clean. Las Vegas should be open to adding free agents seeking their second contract, not their third — players who will be in their late 20s in a few years when the Raiders might be ready to compete, not in their mid 30s.
In a vacuum, though, this is a tremendous return for a tremendous player. A win-win for both teams, and a necessary one, too.
