Maxx Crosby is making sure the conversation around him sounds a lot different than it did earlier this offseason.
Last week, reports described Crosby as virtually unblockable in one-on-one drills at training camp, a strong sign that he is back to full strength with two weeks left before the season opener. That same theme carried over in comments from Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter, who said Crosby has been “on a mission” to prove his doubters wrong.
Then came another boost for the Raiders star’s stock. On Tuesday, NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger made a public case for the 49ers to trade for Crosby and pointed to the edge rusher’s showing at the NFL Sack Summit a month ago as proof that he still belongs among the league’s most disruptive players.
“You’re in an arms race with the Rams right now,” Baldinger said on 95.7 The Game of the 49ers.
“This is a military arms race trying to keep up. I don’t know that Maxx Crosby is available or could be had.
I have no idea. All I know is I was at the Sack Summit out in Las Vegas a month ago, and nobody could beat him off the line of scrimmage.
Everybody challenged him. Jared Verse, pick a guy that was out there.
Nobody could beat him off the ball. Nobody.
He won it.”
Baldinger also pushed back on any concern about Crosby’s knee, saying his own experience showed how differently those situations can be judged.
“I know Baltimore basically said that this knee is shot. I don’t see it now; I failed a physical coming in after my sixth year, failed a physical and played six more years.
They said my knee was shot. Everybody evaluates these things differently.
But I feel like if you had a chance to get Maxx Crosby, he becomes your best defensive player immediately.”
For the Raiders, the key point is that the knee issue, if there were doubts about it at all, no longer sounds like a reason to cool off on Crosby. Standing out against some of the best pass rushers in the league a month ago is not a small detail.
At the moment, neither Crosby nor the Raiders sound eager to revisit trade talk. But if Crosby keeps playing like the reports suggest he is, the market around him could heat up again - especially if a team believes it needs to keep pace in the NFC, where the Rams are setting the tone.
And if Las Vegas ever does entertain another deal, the 49ers and other contenders would be hard-pressed not to make a serious run at him.
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