Raiders trade Maxx Crosby in blockbuster NFL deal

After weeks of speculation, the Raiders are moving on from star defensive end Maxx Crosby.

The club reportedly has made a blockbuster deal with the Ravens that grants Crosby’s wishes to play on a playoff-contending team and potentially helps expedite the Raiders’ rebuild.

In exchange for their lethal pass rusher and the face and soul of their franchise, the Raiders are getting the No. 14 pick in the first round this year and a first-round pick next year.

In seven seasons with the Raiders, Crosby had 69.5 sacks and 439 tackles while establishing himself as one of the game’s legitimate game wreckers.

For all of his personal dominance, though, it never correlated into team success. The Raiders have undergone multiple coaching and regime changes and rebuilds during Crosby’s time, first in Oakland and the last six years in Las Vegas, with only one winning season and postseason appearance to show for it.

The constant dysfunction has been wearing on Crosby, and he has shown signs of chafing at the thought of yet another rebuild under new coach Klint Kubiak and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the presumed number one pick overall in next month’s draft.

The desire to win immediately and play on the NFL’s biggest stages is what essentially led to the trade to the Ravens.

The deal makes sense for the Ravens, a win-now team that can now insert one of the game’s best all around edge rushers into their defense. The Ravens will take on his $30 million salary for this season and assume his $26,500,000 salary for next year, which becomes fully guaranteed on March 13.

Trading Crosby means a $5.1 million hard hit to their salary cap this year, but also $30,690,000 in cap and cash savings.

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