Between the Las Vegas Raiders actually trading him, the Baltimore Ravens backing out of the deal after Crosby publicly said goodbye to this fanbase, and the lingering assumption that his knee isn't what it used to be, Maxx Crosby certainly isn't short on bulletin board material heading into the year.
While some may simply let bygones be bygones, Raider Nation knows that Crosby is out for blood during the 2026 NFL season. And not only is he set to be ready for training camp, but he's thrilled about the chance to play for Klint Kubiak and Rob Leonard, and to don the Silver and Black again.
Don't get it twisted, though: This is a full-throated revenge year for Crosby. He has to prove himself as one of the NFL's premier edge players more this year than perhaps any other season in the past. And ESPN just gave Crosby another thing to plaster on his wall, even if it's not much to the untrained eye.
ESPN ranks Las Vegas Raiders' Maxx Crosby No. 4 DE in NFL
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler polled NFL executives, scouts and coaches anonymously about the best defensive ends in the league. Crosby, despite a down campaign in 2025 and the ongoing worry about his knee, came in at No. 4, behind Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons and Will Anderson Jr.
Last year, Crosby was also slotted in at No. 4. But I see a few obvious things bugging him if he ever gets his eyes on this list: One is that Crosby was leapfrogged in the rankings by Anderson Jr., another is that he didn't move up, and the third is that one personnel member had Crosby as low as No. 8.
It comes as no surprise, then, that Crosby posted the following just hours after the list was released and Raider Nation dissected the rankings on social media.
MORE IS REQUIRED…. GOT WORK TO DO. 🦅🏴☠️
— Maxx Crosby (@CrosbyMaxx) July 8, 2026
Now, this may just be one of Crosby's regularly-scheduled posts about working hard and becoming the best. But this is truly Crosby's moniker. He works so hard and dedicates himself because he wants a gold jacket and to be the best to ever do it, not just another good or great edge rusher.
Crosby wants to be in a class by himself.
After an injury-shortened season, especially one in which Garrett re-wrote the history books and fetched a trade return much bigger than Crosby's, at 30 years old, no less, it wasn't likely that Crosby was going to top this list. And after what Parsons and Anderson Jr. did, even less so.
But make no mistake: Crosby doesn't see it as unrealistic that he could be crowned the league's best at this time next year. In fact, it is his goal and expectation to be just that: The undisputed king. Yes, he wants to help the Raiders win, but he also has his own individual legacy to carve out.
And according to this poll from Fowler, several NFL personnel people had rave reviews of Crosby.
"He's a bad motherf---er," an NFC exec said. "Versus the run, the pass, whatever. He's a pain in the ass all game."
"You're getting a complete body of work with Maxx; he does everything well," an AFC executive said. "Pass rush, splash plays, great against the run, high motor, tackles in the backfield."
Compliments don't mean as much to Crosby as results do, though. And he may not care about a list like this at all, but rather, how he is perceived amongst his peers. But in an offseason filled with adversity for Crosby, he's now got more bulletin board material courtesy of ESPN.
Being No. 4 wouldn't motivate most players or piss them off. But Crosby is different.
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