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(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The Detroit Lions have missed out on multiple opportunities to make a blockbuster move for a superstar pass-rusher this offseason, but any team that had an eye on Maxx Crosby now has renewed hope of dealing for him this summer or before the mid-season trade deadline.
The Las Vegas Raiders already traded Crosby once, sending him to the Baltimore Ravens for two first-round draft picks back in March. However, the Ravens backed out of that deal after citing a failed physical involving Crosby’s surgically-repaired knee, which he was still rehabilitating at the time.
Crosby returned to the desert and both sides have appeared content with that arrangement, at least for now. However, a report emerged out of Las Vegas earlier this week that indicates the franchise has not slammed the door on a potential trade in the coming months.
“There is still enormous interest in the Raiders’ superstar,” Hondo Carpenter of ON SI wrote on Monday, June 15. “That doesn’t mean a deal is imminent, or that the team is shopping him, or that he is asking to be moved. It is simply the reality that, with the interest there to the extent it is, it makes it a viable potential subject.”
Lions Urged to Make Blockbuster Move for Top Pass-Rusher
GettyDefensive end Myles Garrett, formerly of the Cleveland Browns.
Bill Barnwell of ESPN noted on the June 4 edition of his podcast that the Lions have been perhaps the biggest losers of the multiple moves made in the NFL over the past several weeks that have involved prominent edge-rushers switching, or almost switching, franchises.
“I felt like the team that could benefit the most from adding Myles Garrett was not the Los Angeles Rams … I thought the Detroit Lions,” Barnwell said. “And I’ve been arguing this for years with Crosby, with Trey Hendrickson. I really feel like, because they haven’t had that second great edge-rusher next to Aidan Hutchinson, or replacing [him] when he’s been injured, it’s really cost them.”
Barnwell added that the last big swing left for Lions general manager Brad Holmes is to spend major draft capital in a deal for a player like Garrett or Crosby and try to win a title now.
Maxx Crosby Clinging to Elite Status as NFL Edge-Rusher
GettyLas Vegas Raiders pass-rusher Maxx Crosby.
A move for Crosby will cost the Lions at least a first-round pick, plus another asset.
It is unlikely the Raiders can get two first-rounders for him, as the Ravens were the only team to make an offer that good and then backed out, with some around the league accusing Baltimore of doing so after getting cold feet.
Crosby has battled moderate injury concerns over the past couple years and his production trajectory has assumed a slightly downward trajectory.
Pro Football Focus ranked Crosby inside the top four edge defenders in football for three consecutive years between 2021-23. He dropped to 29th out of 121 qualifying players in 2024 when he missed five games due to injury. Crosby finished 16th out of 115 qualifiers last year.
He remains an elite run stopper from the defensive end position, leading the NFL with a 21 percent edge stop win rate in 2025 (125 wins across 319 plays), per ESPN. He also tallied 28 tackles for loss last season, second only to Garrett, and added 10 sacks across 15 games.
A five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, Crosby remains an elite defensive end, though the pertinent question involves how long he can sustain that level of play. He is under contract through 2029 after inking a three-year extension worth $106.5 million, which could prove a minus agreement with regards to cost-production ratio as early as a couple of years from now.
That said, players like Crosby rarely come available while still near their prime. If Detroit traded for him this summer, it would be a Super Bowl-centric maneuver to take advantage of a hyper-talented roster that is getting older and more expensive with each passing year.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible