Maxx Crosby has been one of the biggest talking points surrounding the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason, and even after the team wrapped up its offseason program this week, those conversations haven’t stopped. Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon recently wrote a column listing the 10 worst contracts in the NFL ahead of the 2026 season, and included Crosby in the piece.
The Contract: 3 years, $106.5 million with $91.5 million guaranteed (signed in 2025)
The Problem: After putting up a combined 27 sacks in 2022
and 2023, the seven-year veteran has failed to top 10 sacks in either of the last two seasons. He’ll turn 29 this summer, and a continued decline is inevitable.
The Kicker: The Raiders are pretty much stuck paying him more than $65 million over the course of the next two years. They tried trading him this offseason for a reason. — Gagnon
It’s interesting that the five-time Pro Bowler’s sack totals are brought up as evidence that his “decline is inevitable”. Crosby’s 10 sacks last season are tied for the third-most of his career, and he only played in 15 games. Also, while he only had 7.5 sacks in 2024, the second-fewest during his tenure, that was in just 12 contests.
And if we’re looking at stats, Madd Maxx had a career-high 28 TFL last year, which ranked second in the NFL behind Myles Garrett (33) and was six more than Brian Burns (22) in third place. So, Crosby has finished in first or second for TFLs in three out of the last four seasons, with the outlier being the campaign where he missed five games. For the record, he still had 17 TFLs in 2024, which was tied for the sixth-most in the league.
If the logic is that Crosby’s knee is the reason for his inevitable decline, then I could buy that or at least wouldn’t have a strong argument against the logic since there are a lot of unknown variables with the situation. But Gagnon doesn’t even mention injuries, let alone the one I’m referencing.
On top of all of that, the reason the Raiders tried to trade the Pro Bowler is that he wanted to move on at one point this offseason. If the organization was really interested in getting rid of its star defensive end and wanted to get out of that contract, John Spytek would have accepted one of the low-ball offers that came his way after the Ravens trade fell through.
For those curious, Gagnon listed Deshaun Watson as the worst contract heading into the season. That I think we can all agree with.
In Other Raiders’ Links:
- Question during dead period: “The big health questions are whether star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby, linebacker Nakobe Dean and rookie cornerback Jermod McCoy will be ready for training camp,” S&BP’s Bill Williamson wrote. “Dean was out during all offseason sessions attended by media members. Assistant head coach Mike McCoy said Dean was been working in the building and there is no concern.”
- Mendoza Mania: Check out our series that dives into film breakdowns for every game of Fernando Mendoza’s last season in college. So far, the first three games are live on the site!
- An agent’s take on Mendoza remaining unsigned: “The exception is that lump-sum signing bonus payments have become customary for the first overall pick,” CBS Sports’ Joel Corry wrote. “…The Raiders haven’t been paying first-round pick signing bonuses in a lump sum. The payment schedule for the first three first-round picks….was 77.5% within 15 days of signing, 12.5% in mid-September and the final 10% in mid-October.”
