FRISCO, Texas — Two first-round picks are the price Bleacher Report put on Maxx Crosby on Wednesday. Kristopher Knox ranked the Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher fifth on his Week 1 NFL trade block big board and projected a 2027 first-round pick and a 2028 first-round pick. The Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots are the two listed suitors.
Las Vegas wasn’t shopping Crosby in the spring, Knox wrote, until Baltimore called with an offer structured a specific way.
“For the Raiders to part ways with their franchise cornerstone, they needed an offer that included multiple first-round picks, similar to the trade of Micah Parsons from Dallas to Green Bay last August,” McFadden wrote.
Crosby would sit atop the board if Las Vegas were shopping him. The Raiders instead appear content to keep him as the face of their defense. The asking price will be high, and contenders are bound to call before Nov. 10, the trade deadline.
Why Bleacher Report Ranked Maxx Crosby Fifth
Las Vegas agreed on March 6 to send Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for the No. 14 selection in 2026 and a 2027 first-round pick. Crosby traveled east and completed his physical in Baltimore on March 10. That same evening, the Ravens withdrew, and the Raiders confirmed the deal’s collapse in a statement. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported the reason was medical. Crosby had surgery on a torn meniscus in his left knee in January.
Dallas had its own offer in before Baltimore’s. The Cowboys put the 12th overall pick in the 2026 draft and a 2027 second-round pick on the table, as Dallas Sports Journal reported last week.
Two weeks after the deal died, Jerry Jones was at the NFL Combine and said he expected to borrow from the Cowboys’ future to fix the defense. In July, he was asked specifically about the Crosby talks.
“We did not walk away. That’s about all there is to say,” Jones said, per Jon Machota of The Athletic.
Crosby played 15 games last season and finished with 10.0 sacks, 73 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, 20 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and one interception. Through seven seasons, he has 69.5 sacks in 110 games. He has made five straight Pro Bowls. Oakland drafted him in the fourth round, 106th overall, in 2019 out of Eastern Michigan. Crosby played his high school football at Colleyville Heritage and turned 29 on Aug. 22.
Jerry Jones Says Dallas Is In Play On Defense
Tuesday brought Jones’s first weekly radio appearance of the season on 105.3 The Fan. Any addition would most likely come on defense, and most likely as depth.
“The best way for me to answer that is not timing-wise, right on something this morning or this week, but if you look at it generally speaking, we’re in play,” Jones explained, per Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News. “And that’s the best way to describe it.”
The room to do it came off three restructured contracts last week.
“The timing is conspicuously obvious. We could use it for this year’s team. The cap is fungible; it laps over into multi-years, 3 or 4 on parts that you make available,” Jones said. “That’s hard to put your finger on. But that does show that we have really viable, serious room financially to make a trade if we wanted to right now.”
Those three moves created a little more than $19 million. Dallas holds five picks in the 2027 draft.
Six outside linebackers made the initial 53-man roster. Rashan Gary and Von Miller are the veterans in the group, with Donovan Ezeiruaku in his second season and first-round pick Malachi Lawrence in his first.
Green Bay sent Gary to Dallas on March 9 for a 2027 fourth-round pick. He has 46.5 sacks across seven seasons. Last year he started 15 games and recorded 7.5 sacks, 20 quarterback hits, seven tackles for loss, and one forced fumble.
Miller agreed to terms on Aug. 16 on a one-year contract worth $5.5 million, with a maximum value of $7.5 million. He enters his 15th season with 138.5 career sacks, the most among active players. Last season he played all 17 games for the Washington Commanders and finished with nine sacks and six tackles for loss.
Dallas opens the season Sunday, Sept. 13, at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants. The kickoff is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on NBC.
