The Chicago Bears delivered one of the best comebacks in NFL history against the Packers yesterday. And the only thing that could’ve made the Bears fans even happier was Raiders’ edge rusher Maxx Crosby reinforcing the Vegas-Chicago trade rumors. That’s exactly what he did by giving head coach Ben Johnson his flowers.

Crosby had a wholesome take on the Bears’ head coach.

“He’s one of the best in the league. One of the best play callers without a doubt. He does an incredible job in all facets of offense. The run game to the pass game to the trickeration, he’s really got all that. Somebody I respect a lot. Can’t really say a lot of bad things about him. Every time we go out there against an offense led by him, you gotta be on your shit,” Crosby said on The Rush Podcast.

“You do your best because he’s gonna make it difficult. Yeah, I respect the hell out of him.”

With the Maxx Crosby-Bears rumors already amplifying, that’s something to say. But he isn’t wrong. Johnson just led Chicago to a 31–27 win after trailing 21–3 at halftime, making the Bears only the fourth team in NFL postseason history to win a game after being down 15 or more points in the fourth quarter.

It was far from luck. Johnson flipped the script in the second half, dialing up pressure and forcing Matt LaFleur into a corner. Green Bay never really adjusted, and the game slowly slipped away from them.

On its own, this sounds like a veteran defender tipping his cap to a respected coach. But when it’s Crosby saying it, the words’ value take a whole other meaning. Especially in Chicago, where fans are well aware of the uncertainty brewing in Las Vegas. It’s enough to get imaginations running.

And there’s a reason those imaginations go straight to the pass rush. This Bears team looks like a real contender, and it’s hard to poke holes in the roster. Hard, but not impossible. The pressure off the edge still feels like the missing piece.

Chicago sits 22nd in the league in sacks. Montez Sweat and Austin Booker have shown promise with 10 and 4.5 sacks each, but what they don’t have is a true, no-questions-asked rusher off the edge. Crosby is exactly that wherever he plays.

Maybe it’s nothing more than respect between competitors. Or maybe it’s a subtle nod that Bears fans are choosing to hear loud and clear. Either way, it feels like the door has cracked open for Chicago to dream about landing one of the league’s premier pass rushers when the 2026 offseason rolls around.

But what would it take to see Crosby leave the Raiders?

How likely is a Crosby-Raiders breakup

To get a real sense of how likely Maxx Crosby is to eventually move on, you have to look at what’s been happening inside the Las Vegas Raiders building and how things slowly reached this point.

It all started in October, after the Raiders were flattened 31–0 by the Kansas City Chiefs. Not long after that, league chatter picked up that Crosby might be in play ahead of the November 4 trade deadline. But that talk didn’t last too long. Not even a day, really. Within hours, NFL insider Tom Pelissero shut it down.

“The Raiders met with star DE Maxx Crosby today to let him know they aren’t shopping him and won’t trade him. While other teams are interested, the Raiders aren’t interested in moving their best player,” he said.

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At the time, that seemed to settle it. But seasons have a way of changing things. Late in the year, the situation took another turn when the Raiders decided to sit Crosby for the final two games, even though he wanted to be out there. That decision didn’t sit well with him. Crosby stepped away from the facility for a few days.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, there’s a belief around the league that Las Vegas would at least listen on Crosby “if the relationship remains at an impasse.”

That’s what’s so jarring, because Crosby has never been shy about where he wants to be.

“Come on bro, you know where I want to be. You think I want to be anywhere else? No. I got this s— tatted on my body. I don’t want to go anywhere. It is just funny. You’ve got a lot of people that have a lot to say when they really don’t know what’s going on,” Crosby said last season.

That loyalty has never really been in question. But relationships can fray, even when both sides insist they want the same thing. If this one doesn’t get patched up, it’s no longer impossible to imagine Crosby playing somewhere else.

Contractually, though, he’s still very much tied to the Raiders. Crosby is 28, and the deal he signed keeps him under team control until he’s 32. During the 2025 offseason, he agreed to a three-year, $106.5 million extension layered on top of his existing four-year, $94 million contract. That extension doesn’t kick in until 2027, which technically locks him into Las Vegas through 2029.

For 2026, Crosby carries a $35.9 million cap hit. That sounds hefty, but the structure matters. If the Raiders chose to move him, the dead money would be just $5 million next year, and the extension is cleanly escapable. In other words, the contract wouldn’t stop a deal. It all depends on whether the relationship between Crosby and the Raiders finds its footing again.