Before the Maxx Crosby trade collapsed earlier this month, multiple teams bid to acquire the five-time Pro Bowler from the Las Vegas Raiders. One team that was firmly in the hunt to land Crosby was the Dallas Cowboys, and it appears that they placed several offers on the table in hopes of landing the star pass-rusher.
The Cowboys didn’t want to give up multiple first-round picks to get a deal done, but they were willing to part ways with at least one first-round pick. With the Cowboys in serious need of some pass-rushing help, they made an initial offer that included defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.
That was one of three offers that the Cowboys made, according to a new report from ESPN.
- First offer: 2026 first-round pick (20th overall) and DT Osa Odighizuwa to Las Vegas for Maxx Crosby
At some point during the negotiation, the Cowboys took the first offer off the table. Instead of putting Odighizuwa in the deal, they added another draft pick.
- Second offer: 2026 first-round pick (12th overall) and 2027 third-round pick to Las Vegas for Maxx Crosby
After that offer got rejected, the Cowboys countered with what would end up being their biggest (and final) offer.
- Third offer: 2026 first-round pick (20th overall) and 2027 second-round pick to Las Vegas for Maxx Crosby
Like the two previous offers, this one also got shot down, and that was mostly because the Raiders had a high asking price for Crosby. Las Vegas sought two first-round picks in the deal, and the only other team that was willing to pay that price was the Baltimore Ravens.
Well, it LOOKED like they were going to pay that price, but then they backed out of the deal after Crosby failed a physical. Crosby underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee back in January, so he was never going to pass a physical with any team at this point in the recovery process. Any trade for him was always going to come down to how comfortable each team’s medical staff felt about his knee.
So why did the Ravens bail on the deal?
The team’s biggest concern was that the belief that Crosby had a degenerative issue in his knee, according to ESPN. Basically, the Ravens weren’t worried about whether he would be able to play in 2026, they were worried about what his knee would look like down the road.
The Cowboys do have a connection to the medical examination that was done as part of the trade, and that’s because their team doctor, Dan Cooper, was invited by the Ravens to help examine Crosby.
“Cooper was not the primary voice in determining whether Baltimore should back out of the deal,” according to ESPN. So if the Cowboys made a deal for Crosby, it’s certainly possible that the medical staff in Dallas would have signed off on it.
The Cowboys didn’t land Crosby, but they did add some pass-rushing help by making a trade for Green Bay’s Rashan Gary. Dallas could theoretically still try to make a trade for Crosby, but right now, that seems to be off the table. For one, the Cowboys no longer appear to be too interested in possibly making a deal and the other part here is that Crosby no longer wants out of Las Vegas, according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero.
“My understanding is when teams have been checking on [a possible trade], they have been told the same thing that Maxx told everyone from [Raiders owner] Mark Davis to [Raiders general manager] John Spytek to [Raiders head coach] Klint Kubiak to [Raiders defensive coordinator] Rob Leonard, which is Maxx wants to be a Raider,” Pelissero recently told Rich Eisen. “Maxx is no longer trying to get out of Las Vegas.”
If the Cowboys get desperate or if they want to take another swing at Crosby, they certainly could give Las Vegas a call, but for now, it looks like the Raiders’ star pass-rusher will be staying with the Raiders this year.
