Maxx Crosby Trade Buzz Grows With Bears Linked To Raiders Star
Maxx Crosby is back in the trade conversation, and the Chicago Bears have surfaced as a possible destination later in the 2026 season. The Raiders edge rusher wants to stay in Las Vegas in the short term, but his value could climb once he is back on the field in Week 1.
Chicago Bears Enter The Picture
Jake Beckman wrote on May 16 that Chicago could be a team pursuing Crosby later in the year. He said the Bears needed a real and dominant defensive end going into free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft, but still did not get one in either place.
That leaves Chicago tied to a pass-rush search that was not solved in the spring. Beckman also wrote that Crosby is still out there, which keeps the Raiders at the center of any serious trade talk if the season starts the way his health suggests it might.
Ravens Deal Fell Through
The biggest complication around Crosby is the failed trade to the Baltimore Ravens. Beckman wrote that the Ravens said Crosby did not pass his physical, and that he had just had knee surgery.
Crosby’s situation became more volatile because of that breakdown. Beckman wrote that his value had risen after Baltimore backed out, and that it would skyrocket when he got on the field in Week 1 and returned to his old self.
Raiders Face A Price Test
Las Vegas is in Year 1 of a rebuild, which gives the front office a different timeline than a contender would have. Crosby’s short-term goal is still to remain with the Raiders, but the long-term picture has been pushed into the open by the stalled move and the outside interest.
Beckman said teams would have to meet the asking price the Raiders wanted for Crosby, and that the sooner a team traded for him, the less it would have to pay. That puts the Bears, or any other suitor, in a waiting game built around his health and production early in the 2026 NFL season.
Waller Describes The Disruption
Darren Waller spoke about Crosby on the May 14 edition of Yahoo Sports Daily and described the emotional swing of a deal that never fully landed. “Maybe it didn’t go the way he originally wanted, but now he gets a new start, so let’s do it,” Waller said.
He added that it was halted and Crosby returned to a team he was frustrated with, while still recovering from surgery and trying to get back to 100 percent. Waller said, “It’s just a lot of things to feel and sit with that are probably uncomfortable.”
For the Raiders, that leaves a simple but costly equation: if Crosby looks like himself early in Week 1, interest should follow, and Las Vegas will be the team setting the price.
