Maxx Crosby and the rumors surrounding his potential trade have dominated headlines throughout the offseason. But now that the veteran edge rusher is back in Las Vegas following a failed trade to the Baltimore Ravens, it increasingly feels like Crosby will remain with the Raiders for the 2026 season. While a trade could still materialize before the deadline, ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes Crosby’s recent altercation with Kirk Cousins at least confirmed that the veteran edge rusher is committed to the Raiders.

“I think the real question with Max Crosby and his future in Vegas comes down to what happens if this team doesn’t perform well,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “What if there’s a contender out there before the trade deadline that wants to beef up its pass rush? Could we see a team later this season, if the Raider season is slipping away, make a run at Max Crosby? And I could see that being a possibility in October. That I see. But right now, no, Max wants to be there, and I just think he’s worked up. He’s intense. He wound up hitting Kirk.”

The Raiders’ poor performances over the years were one of the major reasons why Crosby wanted a way out of Las Vegas earlier this offseason. Since coming into the NFL, Crosby has recorded 439 combined tackles, 278 solo tackles, and 69.5 sacks. During the span, however, the Raiders made the postseason only once.

The Raiders’ attempt to trade Crosby to the Ravens earlier this offseason didn’t materialize because of a failed physical test. Now, Schefter has been firm on his report that if the Raiders fail to find success this season as well, Crosby could demand a trade ahead of the trade deadline. The edge rusher wants to be a Raider, yes. But that may not be the case if Las Vegas struggles early in the season.

“Nobody’s going to say it now, but what if the Raiders are not winning regularly? What if the Raiders are 1-5, 2-6, and we’re coming up to the trade deadline in the first week in November, and there’s a team out there that could use a pass rusher and Maxx is playing at the level that we think he can, at another high level? I think that’s when the trade potentially could come back into play down the line,” Schefter said earlier on his podcast.

For now, the Dallas Cowboys could be a team still interested in Maxx Crosby, as Jerry Jones recently admitted that the team didn’t walk away from Crosby. So it won’t be wrong to say that a trade scenario involving Crosby is still on the table.

The development gained momentum a couple of days after Crosby was involved in an altercation with starting quarterback Kirk Cousins. The quarterback grabbed the edge rusher’s jersey after Crosby’s hand touched Cousins during a play on Friday, after the coaching staff had already warned Crosby about not touching the quarterback. As that went down, head coach Klint Kubiak punished both players and held them out of practice on Saturday.

“We have very clear expectations on how we want to practice and how we want to go about our business, and we violated that yesterday, so held those guys out. That’s all I’m gonna say about it,” Kubiak said.

That said, Cousins has been named as the Raiders’ starting quarterback over rookie Fernando Mendoza for the 2026 season. Crosby, meanwhile, seems ready to start the season with the Raiders. Whether he’ll complete it in Vegas, however, remains to be seen.