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A recent crack in the bond between the Raiders and their star pass rusher could lead to the Cowboys making a smart offer.
The Dallas Cowboys‘ offseason may have just received a late Christmas present. As their disappointing 2025 season limps to an end, the club is looking at a potential massive overhaul of their defensive unit. The transition began in late August with their trading away of All-Pro Micah Parsons. Parsons and the front office grew apart from each other over the course of their contract negotiations dating back to the end of last season.
Along the way, the front office made a horrible hire of a defensive coordinator, focusing on Matt Eberflus as their top candidate seemingly before they landed on Brian Schottenheimer taking over as head coach. The team then dropped the no-Parsons bombshell on Eberflus and he was unable to craft a pass rush out of the remaining pieces. The 2026 DC whether it be Eberflus or a replacement, will need a talent there, and it appears that a star talent could end up on the trading block before it’s all said and done.
At this season’s trade deadline, the Cowboys reached out to the Las Vegas Raiders about acquiring now five-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby, but were rebuffed. The team moved their gaze to Jets DT Quinnen Williams, who they landed. Williams continued his Pro Bowl resume in Dallas, but now it appears there may be a reason to call the Raiders back.
On Saturday, the Raiders basically declared they were tanking, sitting down Crosby for the last two weeks of the season despite the DE vehemently wanting to continue playing. Crosby, despite multiple injuries throughout the year, hasn’t missed a game yet and wanted to keep playing.
The Raiders are tied with the New York Giants, their Week 17 opponent, for the worst record in the NFL. With no franchise QB in the org, getting the No. 1 overall pick is in the front office’s best interest; otherwise they’d need to pony up resources to trade into the slot. Crosby, who’s known to have one of the best motors and drives in the league, wants nothing to do with intentionally losing just to get a better draft pick.
During the trade deadline, Crosby was vocal about his allegiance to playing at Allegiant Stadium and staying in the Raiders’ organization. It spoke to his character that his commitment to those he has fought with across his seven-year career was there despite the franchise being 45-69 through his career.
But now? Now he might be more open to being traded this offseason, and the franchise reset the Raiders appear ready to have might have them inclined to move him for other assets as well. It might just be time for Jerry and Stephen Jones to make another call to Marc Davis, Tom Brady and company.
Here’s what we would recommend offering.
Proposed Trade Parameters for Maxx Crosby
The Cowboys shouldn’t part with their top draft pick. Expected to land in the top half of the round, the Cowboys could potentially end up with a player they identify as one of the draft’s top-10 talents. However the club has other assets they could use to interest the Raiders with.
After acquiring Williams, the Cowboys have been deploying three defensive tackles on plays because that’s where their defensive strengths lie. The team signed Osa Odighizuwa to a four-year, $80 million extension early in the offseason. In August, they traded for Kenny Clark and in October for Williams.
This is a bit of overkill, but opens the possibility that one of Odighizuwa or Clark could be moved this offseason. Both players are set to take up over $20 million in cap space in 2026.
Dallas should package the first-round pick they got from Green Bay in the Parsons deal, along with Odighizuwa and a 2027 pick swap to the Raiders for Crosby.
- Dallas sends 1.2x, Osa Odighizuwa, 2027 3rd-round pick
- Raiders send Maxx Crosby, 2027 5th-round pick
This gives the Raiders a starting defensive tackle and two top-100 selections in this year’s draft.
The Cowboys will see Odighizuwa’s salary wiped off the books, but will almost match it with $16 million of accelarated unamortized bonus money. Their 2025 cap would basically be a wash in this portion of the deal.
Dallas would be acquiring Crosby, and the four years remaining on the extension he signed last offseason. There’s $116 million remaining on the deal and it comes with a $30 million base salary in 2026. That’s under $30 million a year in AAV.
The Packers are going to pay Parsons over $40 million next season, for comparison purposes.
Crosby is generally considered in the next tier of pass rushers after Parsons and Myles Garrett, far closer than this salary gulf would indicate. Perhaps his lowered cost would lead a lot more teams into the fray to potentially up the cost of acquisition. Maybe Dallas needs to include the better of their 2026 first rounders; but we’d say giving up both picks would be a questionable strategy.
Still, a starting defensive line of Crosby, Williams, Clark and Ezeiruaku would be a ridiculously strong foundation for the Cowboys to begin their offseason overhaul with. The team should begin making phone calls now.