Patriots Emerging as Maxx Crosby Trade Option, per NFL Insider

Ever since he openly expressed his frustration at being benched for the 2025 season’s final two games as the Las Vegas Raiders apparently tried to get in position for the No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL draft, five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby has been surrounded by trade rumors. On Saturday, a longtime NFL insider reported an exclusive piece of information that could point to Crosby’s preferred destination.

“Crosby once told me he’d love to play for Mike Vrabel,” reported insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic. “It’s easy to see why they’d be a good match.”

In his seven-year career, all with the Raiders, Crosby has played in exactly one playoff game. That came in the 2021 season when the Raiders lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Wild Card Round. The Raiders have missed the playoffs in every other year of Crosby’s career.

The 50-year-old Vrabel — himself a former first-team All-Pro linebacker for the New England Patriots — is the Patriots’ first-year head coach. Vrabel on Thursday was named AP NFL Coach of the Year, after he took a New England team that won only four games in each of the previous two seasons and led them to a 14-3 regular season — and, on Sunday, to the Super Bowl.

Crosby Needs ‘Stable Organization’ to Win: Insider

In her Saturday Athletic report, Russini went on to report that, “the reality is, if Crosby does become available, the Patriots would be just one of many interested teams.”

But the insider’s reporting appeared to confirm that Crosby wants out of Las Vegas, and away from a team that has won just 21 games over the last four seasons and would appear to have a long way to go before they reach contention, despite their expected hiring of Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as the team’s head coach after the Super Bowl.

“Crosby will have a fifth full-time head coach since he debuted in 2019. He has played in one career playoff game. Imagine what he could do with a stable organization accustomed to winning,” Russini wrote.

The Patriots have not been stable over the past five years, firing legendary head coach Bill Belichick, then firing his successor Jerod Mayo after a single season before hiring Vrabel a year ago while cycling through five starting quarterbacks. But historically, the Patriots have been the most successful franchise in the NFL going back to when owner Robert Kraft took over the team in 1994, with 11 Super Bowl appearances, including this season, and six championships since then.

Crosby Would Add Punch to Patriots Defense

One of the most effective pass rushers in the NFL, Crosby has registered double-digit sacks in three of his last four seasons. The only exception was 2024 when he was limited to 12 games due to injuries, but still recorded 7 1/2 sacks.

The 2019 fourth-round draft pick out of Eastern Michigan also led the league in tackles for loss in 2022 and 2023 with 22 and 23 respectively. He compiled 28 this season, second overall (the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett led with 33).

The Patriots could use an upgrade in the pass rush department. Despite a defense that allowed the fourth-fewest points in the NFL (320), the Patriots placed only 26th in sacks with 35, and ninth in passing yards allowed.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin