Why Rich Is Folding His Hand on the Chances the Raiders Will Trade Maxx Crosby

Rich has been pounding the table for months on the idea that Maxx Crosby ends up in Dallas. He is folding the hand.

The setup was there. Back in March, a segment about Crosby would have been called Is He Gone Yet, and then he actually was gone, off to Baltimore. Then the Ravens sent him back where he started, and the question became whether a healthy Crosby would still want out.

Jerry Jones did his part. Showing up in Oxnard for his training camp opening press conference, he said the Cowboys would be up for giving up futures.

What killed it was watching Crosby at Raiders camp.

NFL Network's Back Together Weekend coverage put Omar Ruiz and David Carr in Las Vegas, and Crosby turned up shirtless, inked and talking about Fernando Mendoza like a man planning to be around a while.

"In this league, you need a great quarterback to win and compete, and Fernando's going to be that guy at some point, and I want to see him succeed," Crosby said. "I'm a Raider to the core and I want to win more than anything."

What followed was the part that convinced Rich. Crosby did not describe himself as the franchise's lone voice. He described a structure.

"I don't want to just be the only guy talking all the time. It can't just be me," Crosby said. "It's not basketball where Kobe grabbed the dudes and said, no, this is what we're doing. There's 90 guys on the roster."

His reference point was New England, where Tedy Bruschi played linebacker, Rodney Harrison played safety and Richard Seymour lined up up front, veterans leading at every level.

He also gave the offseason a word.

"Intentionality, and that's a big word for me this offseason," Crosby said. "I've been intentional with all the things I'm doing. So that includes leadership."

Chris backed it up with what the cameras caught. During team gassers, Crosby was out in front of everybody, leading by example rather than by speech.

Rich's read is that this is the only way Crosby knows how to operate, which is exactly why the earlier exit happened. When the Raiders told him he was sitting the last two games of last season, he was done, and it did not matter that Pete was gone and a new regime was arriving.

So the trade case collapses under its own logic. Any team calling the Raiders now has to start at the two first-round picks Baltimore surrendered, and Las Vegas hangs up anyway. You do not move one of the best pass rushers in football the week he volunteers to shepherd your young quarterback.

"I don't want to trade that guy away," Rich said. "I want to win with him."

There is also a version of this where the whole detour helped. In the 48 hours Crosby was gone, the Raiders had cap space and spent it on Tyler Linderbaum, the best center available. If those two things are not mutually exclusive, Las Vegas came out of it with the pass rusher and the center.

Which is a coherent plan for Mendoza. Give him short fields because Crosby is on the field, give him a center to share a brain with, give him a coach building an offense around him. Boxes getting checked.

Rich is not closing the door forever, only through camp. The trade deadline is a different conversation, and half a season of getting beaten up while Myles Garrett looks happy elsewhere could change how Crosby feels.

At which point, as the room noted, Uncle Jerry makes a call to Mark Davis about futures.