The Buffalo Bills are gearing up to watch their top draft targets at the NFL Combine, but in the meantime, they’re getting some much-needed intel on potential trade targets as well. As general managers around the league address the media on their offseason plans, they’re rubbing shoulders and discussing deals in every corner of Lucas Oil Stadium.
Of course, the Bills are wrapped up in trade projections at two key positions: wide receiver and edge rusher. Buffalo needs a dynamic player at both spots, and finding such a player with the No. 26 overall pick is far from a guarantee.
Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby is one of the top names on the unofficial trading block, and general manager Brandon Beane no doubt has an eye on the situation. But on Tuesday, he and Bills Mafia heard the Raiders’ new GM deliver a frustrating update on Crosby’s availability.
Buffalo Bills confront harsh truth in Maxx Crosby trade talks
While it’s been reported that Crosby wants out of Las Vegas, new GM John Spytek said at the Combine he intends to keep Crosby on the roster in 2026.
“Maxx is an elite player,” Spytek said on Tuesday. “I’ve been very up front from the start when I got here: We’re in the business of having very good players on the team, and we need a lot more of them. It’s hard to build an elite team without them.”
While it’s far from confirmation that the Raiders will indeed keep Crosby around, it certainly draws some clarity about just how expensive the trade package for Crosby will need to be for Spytek to move the elite 28-year-old edge defender.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter recently backed up initial reports that it will take a Micah Parsons-level package to acquire Crosby this offseason.
“I was told that the Raiders don’t want to trade [Maxx Crosby], and if they even contemplated it, then it would take a Micah Parsons-type package,” he said over the weekend on 97.5 The Fanatic. “That’s what I was told. Do I think they are getting two firsts and a player? No. Do I think they want to trade him? No. Do I think he’ll be traded like AJ Brown [could be], that’ll change by the week…”
The Bills certainly got more promising news with Brown at the Combine, though Eagles GM Howie Roseman’s willingness to move on from the superstar receiver could naturally increase his trade package as well. As for Crosby, the Raiders have effectively told a team like Buffalo to buzz off.
If the Raiders are going to move Crosby, it’ll be to a team that can absorb losing so much draft capital, and that’s not the spot Buffalo is currently in, even despite being a Super Bowl contender. The Bills need their future draft capital to revitalize the defense, especially with a total scheme overhaul under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
While Crosby would certainly fit well into the Bills' new look on defense, the cost appears to be much too high. It might be time for Bills Mafia to put any hopes of acquiring Crosby this offseason to bed.