Feb. 20, 2026, 11:04 a.m. PT

Everyone loves trade fodder. Maxx Crosby’s angry response to being sat down for the final two games for a meniscus injury he insisted he could play through sparked the fire and his refusal to say anything about it since has only added fuel to the blaze since then. And, of course, the NFL media loves this because they get to create a whole lot of content surrounding it. And, in some cases, come up with some wild trade scenarios.

ESPN asked several of their NFL writers to each put together hypothetical trades for the 28-year-old Pro Bowl edge rusher. Some of which are unrealistic to the point of being downright unserious.

We will start with the most absurd. It comes from Seth Walder for the Chargers and it reads more like clickbait. So, I’m sorry for falling for it.

Seth Walder’s offer:

Raiders get: 2026 second-round pick (No. 55 overall), 2026 sixth-round pick, 2027 fifth-round pick

Chargers get: Crosby

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Walder never explains why the compensation is so slim, saying only that the Raiders would be taking draft capital from a rival. Never mentioning that failing to even get anything higher than the 55th overall pick without so much as a star player included is not nearly enough. Not in any universe. The Chargers would simply be stealing a Pro Bowl edge rusher who would no doubt wreak havoc on his former team twice a season for several years. This laughable deal would absolutely never happen and we should all feel dumber having read it.

The other deals don’t come close to reaching the Micah Parsons trade level (two firsts and a star player) some might have expected/hoped. All seem to be fairly similar deals, however.

Jeremy Fowler’s offer:

Raiders get: WR DJ Moore, 2026 first-round pick (No. 25 overall), 2027 third-round pick

Chargers get: Crosby

Dan Graziano’s offer:

Raiders get: WR George Pickens, 2026 first-round pick (No. 20 overall)

Cowboys get: Crosby, 2026 second-round pick (No. 36 overall)

Ben Solak’s offer:

Raiders get: WR Chris Godwin Jr., 2026 first-round pick (No. 15 overall), 2027 second-round pick

Buccaneers get: Crosby, 2027 fifth-round pick

In each case, the interested team sends the Raiders a much-needed receiver plus a top pick and, in two cases, a future pick as well. Still, not massive hauls like the Parsons deal, but there seems to be some consensus here of the compensation being a receiver, top pick, and a future pick.

We don’t know at this point if Crosby even will be traded, and what the Raiders would get and from whom.