After the stunning news that the Baltimore Ravens were backing out of their trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for edge rusher Maxx Crosby, Chicago Bears fans had so much hope that they could get back in the conversation to trade for him.
The Bears had reportedly been among the teams checking in on a Crosby trade to see if they could acquire him. Well, those dreams might be crushed as Crosby took to social media to publicly post in words about the Raiders for the first time, and it was not the message Bears fans were hoping to read.
"Everything Happens For A Reason. Believe Nothing You Hear & Half Of What You See. Im A Raider. Iām Back. Run That S**t.š¦ š“āā ļø"
Maxx Crosby doesn't appear to be a Chicago Bear anytime soon
The Bears fan base really wanted Crosby to join the team as he was the top premier pass rusher available for a trade this offseason. He's coming off his fifth Pro Bowl selection as he notched 10 sacks in 15 games to give himself 69.5 in his career.
Chicago struggled with their pass rush, finishing with just 35 sacks on the year, the fewest in the league. The Bears haven't really done much to improve the defensive line from a pass rusher standpoint, with the team re-signing defensive end Daniel Hardy as well as signing former Atlanta Falcon Kentavius Street, but that's about it for the edge rusher position.
There are still free agents the Bears could target to bring in, but at this point, all the top edge rushers are gone, and Chicago might be shifting their focus to the NFL Draft. The good news is that this edge rusher class is deep, so this is a good one for the Bears to select someone within the first three rounds.
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It's disappointing to lose out on Crosby, but the Bears can save their two first-round picks the next two years to keep building the roster they have going for them.