Maxx Crosby, Raiders
Getty
Defensive end Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Chicago Bears fans had a brief moment of hope after the Baltimore Ravens stunned the NFL universe by yanking their trade offer for Maxx Crosby out from under the Las Vegas Raiders, but Crosby himself dashed those hopes with his first comments on social media.
He took to the internet Wednesday, March 11 and declared loudly that he intends to play with the Raiders in 2026 and beyond.
“Everything Happens For A Reason,” Crosby posted to X. “Believe Nothing You Hear & Half Of What You See. I’m A Raider. I’m Back. Run That [Bleep] 🦅🏴☠️.”
Maxx Crosby
Everything Happens For A Reason. Believe Nothing You Hear & Half Of What You See. Im A Raider. I’m Back. Run That Sh*t. 🦅🏴☠️
It is not clear if Chicago planned to pursue Crosby following his change in circumstances, though ESPN’s Bill Barnwell speculated on the possibility in the aftermath of the news.
“The Bears already have $37 million invested in their starters on the edge between Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo, the latter of whom is still recovering from an Achilles injury,” Barnwell wrote. “They have the draft capital to make a deal work and a core of young talent on offense that should allow for spending heavily on defense, but are they really ready for an all-in move?”
It doesn’t matter much now whether Chicago is ready for Barnwell’s so-called “all-in move,” because Crosby and the Raiders seem content to move forward together — at least for the time being.
So the Bears need to figure out how to improve what was a bottom-of-the-league pass rush in 2025, and a short-term bridge option is probably the way to do that given the market after three days of free agency and Chicago’s relatively poor draft position in Round 1 (No. 25 overall).
One potential answer is five-time Pro Bowler Joey Bosa, most recently of the Buffalo Bills.
Joey Bosa Can Offer Bears High-End Pass-Rush Specialist
Joey Bosa
GettyFormer Buffalo Bills pass-rusher Joey Bosa.
Bosa will play next season, his 11th in the NFL, at 31 years old. He is not a complete edge defender at this point in his career and has a troubling history of injury issues in recent years, but he remains a quality pass-rusher in several regards.
During his sole season in Buffalo, Bosa tallied 47 quarterback pressures, 30 hurries, 12 QB hits, five sacks and a league-leading five forced fumbles. He also broke up two passes.
Pro Football Focus ranked Bosa the 17th-best edge defender in the NFL last season out of 115 players who saw enough snaps to qualify at the position. He played in 15 games after appearing in 14 contests for the Los Angeles Chargers the year before, which was the most recent of his five Pro Bowl campaigns.
Joey Bosa Can Bring Value to Bears Defense Given Skill Set, Market Projection
Joey Bosa
GettyPass-rusher Joey Bosa, formerly of the Buffalo Bills.
Chicago would not need Bosa to be an every-down player, which is good because he no longer is. He tallied 563 total defensive snaps, including 336 pass-rush snaps, last season.
Yes, that means Bosa would be a situational edge-rusher, but most players like him become that at some point in their 30s. And the production he found in that role for Buffalo assigns Bosa a high value-to-snap ratio.
Spotrac projects Bosa’s market value at two years and $27.5 million total, which equates to approximately $13.7 million per season. For context, Micah Parsons set the market for pass-rushers last summer with a four-year deal worth $186 million ($46.5 million annually) from the Green Bay Packers.