Maxx Crosby wanted a new team, and he’s getting a new team.
The next question is whether he’ll want a new contract from his new team — and whether he’ll get one when the trade becomes official on Wednesday at or around 4:00 p.m. ET.
The Ravens surely inquired before deciding to send a pair of first-round picks to the Raiders for Crosby’s current contract. And his current contract is very reasonable, relative to the market.
Crosby is due to make $30.782 million this year. And it goes not up but down from there: (1) $29.782 million in 2027; (2) $27.282 million in 2028; and (3) $28.212 million in 2029. Of those amounts, the 2026 base salary of $30 million is fully guaranteed. The 2027 base salary of $29 million becomes fully guaranteed on Friday.
When Crosby got his latest contract last year, the new-money APY at signing was $35.5 million. The Ravens inherit the final four years at an average payout of $29 million.
In contrast, the top of the market is $46.5 million per year.
Crosby should want an adjustment that drives up the APY and that potentially gives him more injury and/or full guarantees. That would reduce his cap number for 2026 (of course, the Ravens can do that under the increasingly standard automatic conversion rights that are in most significant contracts).
There’s already chatter that he’ll be getting a new deal, but it has yet to be confirmed. It always makes more sense for something like this to happen on the way through the door, so that there’s no lingering question or potential tension as the new relationship unfolds.
Either way, it can’t be done until the trade becomes official on Wednesday. (In theory, the trade could collapse. Either team could back out, with no official consequence.)
Last year, Crosby set a new bar for pass rushers. He has since been leapfrogged by Danielle Hunter (twice; $35.6 million and $40.1 million), Myles Garrett ($40 million), T.J. Watt ($41 million), Micah Parsons ($46.5 million), and Aidan Hutchinson ($45 million).
The basic logic is simple. If he’s good enough to justify the investment of two first-round picks, he’s good enough to get more than $29 million per year over four years — with a little over $60 million in guarantees.