Maxx Crosby’s name is already floating into one of the NFL’s most intriguing trade conversations, and Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport thinks the Las Vegas Raiders star could eventually push his way out if 2026 goes sideways.
Davenport put Crosby at the top of his list of NFL players most likely to seek a trade and pointed to the San Francisco 49ers as a destination that would make sense. The fit is obvious on paper: San Francisco already has Nick Bosa, one of the league’s top defensive players, but injuries have left questions around the rest of the defensive front. Crosby would give the 49ers another elite edge rusher and make an already dangerous defense even tougher to deal with.
“There are multiple contenders who could use the services of an elite edge-rusher who just logged 10 sacks and 28 tackles for loss in an injury-shortened 2025 campaign,” Davenport wrote on July 15. “And Crosby is easily the most valuable trade chip Las Vegas has.
Crosby may not be publicly demanding a trade yet, but he wouldn’t be annoyed if he wound up in, say, San Francisco. And that demand may yet come, especially if the Raiders struggle in 2026.”
Crosby is still recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and that injury already played a major role in one of the offseason’s biggest storylines. The Raiders had agreed to send Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for two first-round picks, but the deal collapsed after Baltimore examined his medicals.
“The Baltimore Ravens have backed out of our trade agreement for Maxx Crosby,” the Raiders said in a statement shared by ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on March 10. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport later laid out the reason the Ravens pulled out. “Maxx Crosby had surgery to repair his meniscus right around the end of the season, and meniscus recoveries take 3-4 months,” Rapoport said. “… it appears the Ravens are just not comfortable with what they found during the medical exams for Maxx Crosby, so now the trade is off.”
San Francisco has its own health issues to sort through on the edge. Nick Bosa played only three games in 2025 before tearing his ACL, and former first-round pick Mykel Williams is also working back from a torn ACL after getting hurt in Week 9 of his rookie year.
Pro Football Focus reporter Bradley Locker said Williams needs to take a real step in 2026, noting that he finished with a 51.9 pass-rush grade, ranked 90th among 95 qualified edge defenders, and produced just 19 pressures before the injury.
If Crosby ever does formally ask out, the 49ers figure to be one of the loudest teams in the conversation. The big question, though, is the one that hangs over any possible deal: can San Francisco afford to add another elite pass rusher while banking on two players coming back from major knee injuries?