My Dallas Cowboys mock trade offer for Raiders’ Maxx Crosby was accepted, here’s what I learned
Maxx Crosby could be traded by the Raiders this offseason. This offer could secure him for the Cowboys.
Do you want Maxx Crosby on the Dallas Cowboys? Well, I got him in our little make-believe world at A to Z Sports. You see, our beat writer for the Las Vegas Raiders, Justin Churchill, ran a little experiment, taking offers for the superstar pass rusher from six other beats.
I was in charge of sending the Cowboys’ offer, and it turns out, my trade package was the winning bid. Now, I should mention right away I highly doubt the real-life Cowboys will involve themselves in the Crosby sweepstakes. But this was a fun exercise between NFL writers, and I figured why not make a run at one of the best pass rushers in the league?
I learned a few things from the exercise and want to share them with you. And I’ll start with the realization that I kind of messed up.
1. I overpaid for Crosby
Let me explain to you where I was coming from with this one. NFL insider Jay Glazer reported on Wednesday that he believed Crosby’s time with the Raiders was over and that the haul Las Vegas could get for him would be “probably more” than what the Cowboys got for Parsons. Considering Crosby is 28-years-old and under contract through 2029, I don’t think that’s totally out of whack.
And the thing is, the Cowboys don’t have a single Day 2 draft pick this year, so I pretty much had to work with their first-round picks and players.
So this was my offer: The Cowboys get Crosby and a 2026 fourth-round pick for a 2026 first-round pick (No. 20 overall via the Green Bay Packers) and a 2027 first-round pick. In addition, Dallas would send defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.
Obviously, that’s a king’s ransom and in a way, pretty close to what Dallas got from the Packers for Parsons. But looking at the other five offers made in our exercise, no one offered multiple first-rounders for Crosby. Mine was that plus a high-end starter in Odighizuwa.
Another strong offer was Kole Noble’s representing the Bears: He offered a 2026 first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick, and wide receiver DJ Moore. But even that wasn’t as much as mine.
Long story short, I regret my offer because it’s clear I overpaid. Maybe I could have done a 2027 second-round pick instead of the first-rounder and still walked away with Crosby. Which leads me to lesson No. 2.
2. Osa Odighizuwa is a heck of a trade asset
“Are you telling me the Raiders can get two first-round picks for Crosby?” Churchill wrote in his article. “That’s a great deal, and they get a starter on the defensive line to replace him, even though he is a three-technique pass rusher.”
Sending a starting-caliber defensive tackle like Odighizuwa in a trade like this could be a good way to raise the value of any offer the Cowboys make. After all, he would be an upgrade for many teams, the Raiders included. And for Dallas, the reason why trading Osa makes sense is simple: The Cowboys now have Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams.
But I will say this: I wouldn’t be a fan of harming the lone position group that is a strength on defense right now. Unless it’s for someone like Crosby, let’s keep Odighizuwa around, shall we?
3. Getting Crosby takes a genuine all-in
Not only are the Cowboys rarely in the mix for this kind of deal, but it’s tough to make a trade like this work when you have no Day 2 picks in this year’s draft. Dallas gave up its second-rounder in the Quinnen Williams trade and its third for George Pickens. Both deals were positive for the Cowboys, but they leave little room for further trades.
And yet, with Dak Prescott playing the way that he is, a genuine all-in, “F them picks” approach could lead to some crazy scenarios. But even this kind of risk would probably make fans a little uncomfortable. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just a sign that this is an unlikely scenario for the Jerry Jones-led front office.
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