The Raiders’ losing streak has turned the trade deadline into the biggest storyline in Las Vegas, and Maxx Crosby’s name is the one hanging over everything.
Team color analyst Kirk Morrison said the matchup with the Jets could decide what happens next if the skid keeps going. On Raider Nation Radio’s Unnecessary Roughness with Q Myers, Morrison didn’t dance around the urgency.
“I cannot believe that I’m saying this, and I feel so bad in saying this, but this is a must-win game,” Morrison said.
“Because you lose five in a row, now everything’s on the table, especially because we know what’s looming with the trade deadline. And I’ll just leave it at that.”
Morrison didn’t name the player he was alluding to, but Crosby is the obvious name that would start gaining steam if the Raiders lose again. The idea is simple: if the losses pile up, every option gets pushed onto the table. Crosby has already been traded once, so it would be a mistake to assume it can’t come up again.
Not long ago, the Raiders looked like they might be building toward a playoff push. Now, a loss to the Jets would send a very different message about where this roster stands. Instead of a team ready to chase the postseason, it would suggest the Raiders are still a couple years from being a real Super Bowl threat.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter addressed the possibility of a Crosby deal on the Pat McAfee Show, and he still views it as unlikely. He pointed to how much Crosby means to the organization and how expensive a move would be.
“The issue there is he means so much that franchise, He was the one that was forcing the issue in the offseason. He was the one that wanted to be traded. Initially the Raiders balked and then they found two ones and I just don’t think they’re getting that back now,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show.
“He’s an unbelievable player. I don’t think they’re getting two ones and so maybe it just makes sense to hold on him to… and I don’t know that anybody would give up enough to make it happen. So I don’t rule out anything in this but the trade talks surrounding Maxx Crosby to me have lost a little bit of steam.”
As Schefter noted, Crosby was the one driving trade conversations earlier this offseason, and plenty of people around the league believed his thinking had everything to do with wanting to land on a contender.
That’s why the next two weeks matter so much. If the Raiders keep sliding, there’s a real path where they aren’t viewed as a playoff team this season - and maybe not even next year. In that kind of scenario, Crosby’s willingness to revisit a move wouldn’t come as a shock.
For now, it’s all speculation. But it’s the kind of speculation that people around the league are watching closely. And as Morrison said, that’s where it stands for now: we’ll leave it at that.
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