Word broke on Tuesday morning that the Dallas Cowboys had inquired about trading for Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. He would immediately fill the Micah Parsons-shaped hole on the Cowboys roster that has been in place for about two months now. Trading for him would give Jerry Jones an opportunity to finally live up to his ‘all-in’ declaration from a year and a half ago.
The reason to consider going ‘all-in’ is the Cowboys have a quarterback playing at an MVP level in Dak Prescott. He has weapons in CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Jake Ferguson, and Javonte Williams to work with on offense. The word “window” gets thrown out a lot in sports, but it is begging the Cowboys to crawl through it here in 2025. Acquiring Crosby, or a player of that caliber, would go a long way towards that kind of leap.
Crosby just turned 28 years old, though. While we are certainly focused on the immediate future that he could help with, he would also be a part of the mix for the next few years. This is why it is important to look at his current contract situation.
For history/context you should know that Crosby was a fourth-round selection of the Raiders back in 2019. This put him on pace to receive an extension from his team in 2022 which ultimately happened.
The Raiders went back to work on that situation when they could, though. Crosby’s current deal is an extension he received in March of this year (something we talked about in relation to Micah Parsons at the time because… duh) and was ultimately a three-year, $106.5M extension with $91.5M guaranteed. It carries an AAV of $35.5M.
This AAV fell to only the fifth-highest in the NFL after Parsons got his deal from the Green Bay Packers following The Trade™. Crosby may not be Parsons on a one-for-one basis, but he is absolutely of the same caliber and tier. The Cowboys would hypothetically be getting one of the best edge rushers in the NFL and at a cheaper price than the one they just sent away ended up signing for. This isn’t a justification of the process of how we got here, just stating the reality.
Something that is important is the note from the Spotrac tweet in that Crosby’s 2027 salary fully guarantees next March. If the Cowboys really wanted to, after a trade obviously, they could view Crosby as someone who is only a part of their team through that season. Spotrac even kindly noted that Crosby could be viewed as a player to be had for 2.5 years and $80M. That AAV is a bit higher, but the earlier escapability is a pro that costs money.
The Cowboys could still, we talk about this all of the time, sign George Pickens to an extension after this season even if they acquire Crosby. They could backload the deal a bit to take advantage of a 2028 world where Crosby is hypothetically off of the team. We are just spitballing here, to be clear.
It goes without saying that the Cowboys are going to be focused on fixing their pass rush situation in the 2026 NFL Draft. They could accelerate that process, and aid the 2025 season along the way, by trading for Crosby. They could also acquire a known commodity as opposed to an unproven one during the draft. Obviously there are other pros and cons associated with that conversation.
Wrapping this all up, this makes a ton of sense for the Cowboys. Hopefully they find a way to get it done.
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