A Maxx Crosby trade works for the Lions if…
If the Detroit Lions were prepared to move heaven and Earth to a toxic point, they could get this done
It is a never-ending thing, isn’t it? Last offseason, we talked about the possibility of a Maxx Crosby trade for the Detroit Lions and how the Lions actually reached out to the Raiders during the trade deadline. Ultimately, it seemed impossible, and then the Raiders signed him to a big extension.
Now it seems things are not going well for Crosby and the Raiders. A major disagreement over how to handle his injury led to Crosby leaving the Raiders’ facility, and not in a good way. At this point, it’s probably still a long shot that the Raiders would trade him, and you can put me at the front of the line of people who don’t at all believe the Lions would get this deal done.
I expect the Lions to put their past offseason methods behind them after they blew up in their face in 2025, but Crosby’s deal is tough to get around. So basically, the theme of this story is not so much that the Lions can afford Crosby, it’s what they would have to do to make the deal work. The heaven and Earth would have to move to jam him in there.
What the Lions would have to give up
This is the one section where the Lions might have the leg up. Crosby’s deal is so big that the Raiders are in a bad position. Before the extension, they probably could have named their price. Now, they’re going to have to take less to get any team to take on the deal.
Whereas it might have been two first-round picks last summer, maybe now it’s two second-round picks. The Raiders won’t get a Micah Parsons-like deal even if they wanted it badly. Additionally, Crosby is recovering from this injury, which has sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
Let’s move some money around
Right off the bat, you have to restructure Crosby’s deal in 2026 because he has a $35 million cap hit. That is almost quarterback money, and it pretty much ruins any other intentions you had for the offseason. If you restructure the deal and do something crazy like add max void years, you can get that cap hit down to around $5 million, but then you are pretty much handcuffed to the idea that you’re going to extend him in 2027 when he’s 30. When you do that, you tie yourself to Crosby until 2030, when he’s 33 years old.
At this point, the Lions have kicked so much down the road with Jared Goff, Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Kerby Joseph, and they’re likely to do it with Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Brian Branch, and Sam LaPorta, too.
It’s just a lot of cap hell to get yourself into for a player who will be 29 years old when he starts his first game for you. If the Lions were ever going to make this move, 2024 was the year to do it, and like we pointed out earlier, they did try. The Raiders hung up on them and everyone else.
This doesn’t mean the Lions can’t go out and get a great player this offseason; it does mean you might want to temper your expectations a little, though.
For me, the move has to be a trade with the Giants for Kayvon Thidbodeaux. You get him under contractual control for another year, and you can then control the type of extension you offer. It’s the best move Lions GM Brad Holmes could make. We’ll see what they do soon enough, but I wouldn’t expect Crosby to be an option.
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Do not expect the Lions to trade Jared Goff this offseason, or ever, it’s almost impossible
Jared Goff is playing really well. Why would anyone want to do this?
