For several years, as losses have piled up and seasons of his prime have evaporated, trade speculation around Las Vegas Raiders star edge rusher Maxx Crosby has generally lurked and occasionally ramped up.
This offseason, spurred by his eventual request to be traded, Crosby was on his way to the Baltimore Ravens before their general manager, Eric DeCosta, infamously got cold feet and bailed on the deal when they still could.
For now, and easily subject to change between today and the trade deadline if the Raiders have a poor record, Crosby remains in Las Vegas. Potential trade suitors still lurk somewhere, though, ready to pounce if circumstances align.
One of those possible suitors, the Los Angeles Rams, can be crossed off that list after acquiring Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns.
Reported trade offer for Maxx Crosby is now intertwined with Rams' acquisition of Myles Garrett
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer chronicled the Rams' pursuit of Garrett, which actually started a few years ago, before it was recently paid off. It was an exercise in patience, if nothing else, despite that level of patience going against the "F-them picks" grain of Rams' general manager Les Snead.
Breer mentioned the first time Snead called Browns general manager Andrew Berry about trading for Garrett.
"Ahead of the 2022 trade deadline, the Rams were looking for pass-rush help, feeling the loss of 2021 deadline acquisition Von Miller. They’d called the Panthers, and after going way down the road on a Christian McCaffrey trade, before the 49ers landed him, they offered two first-round picks for Brian Burns. They made a similar offer to the Raiders for Maxx Crosby. And they went further with the Browns—a package that topped what they’d traded for Ramsey (two firsts and a fourth) for Garrett."
That offer the Rams made to the Carolina Panthers for Brian Burns, nearly four years ago now, is well-known. What wasn't widely known up to now is their "similar" offer to the Raiders for Crosby around the same time, with Breer insinuating it was also somewhere along the line of two first-round picks.
Which, as we know before things went awry, is the same as the deal that was in place with the Ravens back in March. This was previously unknown information, but Breer, as he tends to do, has brought it to the forefront.
If the Rams had gotten a deal done to get Crosby back in 2022, they'd probably still have him, and their pursuit of Garrett would not have had the second act that it did. Not to mention, the Raiders may have actually gotten two first-round picks for him, which isn't happening now.
But then, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero revealed on The Rich Eisen Show on Friday that there was a second alternate timeline in which Crosby became an LA Ram. Earlier this year, Snead and Co. made a run for the Raiders' star.
"Myles Garrett was not the first pass rusher that they pursued in this offseason," Pelissero said. "They had eyes on players, whether it was via free agency, whether it was via trade. There may have been a scenario somewhere along the line where Maxx Crosby could have been the player who ended up with the Rams instead. ... There is certainly a scenario where it could have been Max Crosby, not Myles Garrett, ending up in LA."
These two tidbits are obviously fascinating. But for now, Crosby is in Las Vegas, and he won't be going to the Rams anytime soon, at least not with Garrett finally in Los Angeles.
Add us as a preferred source on Google