{"id":754343,"date":"2026-02-15T18:19:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T18:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/754343\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T18:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T18:19:24","slug":"bring-a-battering-ram-joebucsfan-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/754343\/","title":{"rendered":"“Bring A Battering Ram” – JoeBucsFan.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Click through to BillCurrieFord.com to see their extraordinary February offers. Family-owned in Tampa since 1960! Bill Currie Ford general manager Sean Sullivan is ready to help you PERSONALLY and give you the famous Ira Kaufman discount. Don\u2019t Worry, Drive Currie!<\/p>\n

BY IRA KAUFMAN<\/p>\n

Catch him if you can.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still debatable whether the Raiders will make Maxx Crosby available on the trade market, but if John Spytek and Tom Brady are willing to listen to offers, Jason Licht needs to apply.<\/p>\n

Forcefully.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Crosby is a game-changing defensive end, a five-time Pro Bowler who twice led the league in tackles for loss and has been named one of the NFL\u2019s top 22 players on three separate occasions in voting by his peers.<\/p>\n

Everyone in this league knows Crosby is a special player, perhaps a transformative player for a Buc defense sorely missing a pass rusher of his caliber. Should the Raiders make Crosby available, there would be no shortage of suitors from New England to San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Yes, he\u2019s that good. Let\u2019s not be naive \u2026 the Las Vegas front office would surely demand a steep price. If the Raiders won\u2019t take less than a pair of first-round picks, move on.<\/p>\n

But if Licht is willing to sweeten the pot by adding a veteran player to the mix, especially one Brady is familiar with, that could change the dynamics of the trade discussions.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay\u2019s pass rush is in dire need of an upgrade. Nobody knows that more than Todd Bowles, who blitzed extensively in 2025 and received few dividends in return.<\/p>\n

There were a lot of reasons the Bucs went 2-7 after the bye week. Baker Mayfield\u2019s play leveled off, Emeka Egbuka\u2019s production cratered and the defense couldn\u2019t cover backs in the flat.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also this: During the 6-2 start, the Bucs registered 25 sacks. In the final nine weeks, Tampa Bay was limited to 12 takedowns. If sacks are drive-killers, the Bucs spent the second half of the season letting opponents breathe easy.<\/p>\n

Crosby turns 29 in August and he\u2019s a tough guy to keep off the field, even when injured. He has played at least 94 percent of defensive snaps in each of the past four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, every time I step on the field I feel I\u2019m the best player,\u201d Crosby says.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not far off.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ira Kaufman has orders for Bucs GM Jason Licht.<\/p>\n

Except for Myles Garrett, who is in a league of his own, Crosby has few rivals as a relentless force off the edge. He\u2019s got power, he\u2019s got moves and he has the determination to beat anyone with the gall to try and block him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Maxx,\u201d Garrett says. \u201cHe plays the game with a helluva motor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowles doesn\u2019t have enough guys on defense with that sheer drive. And Crosby is hardly one-dimensional. He has averaged four tackles per game during his 7-year career, a strong total for a lineman.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 100 miles per hour on every play,\u201d says Andy Reid, who has watched helplessly as Crosby created havoc against KC pass protectors twice a season.<\/p>\n

Imagine how much more effective YaYa Diaby would be with Crosby on the other side. The Haason Reddick move didn\u2019t work out \u2014 acknowledge the mistake and move on.<\/p>\n

That $14 million hiccup shouldn\u2019t give Licht pause to pursue Crosby, who would bring a swagger and bravado this defense is sorely lacking. Buc fans appreciate effort, and Crosby brings that every snap.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy I\u2019ve always been a fan of is Maxx Crosby,\u201d says Saints center Erik McCoy. \u201cHe plays the hardest of anybody in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Brady and Spytek deem Crosby a foundational piece of a sad-sack franchise, too valuable to part with, so be it. But if the Crosby door is left open, even a crack, the Bucs need to bring a battering ram to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n

Report: Maxx Crosby Irked At Raiders Part-Owner Tom Brady<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Click through to BillCurrieFord.com to see their extraordinary February offers. Family-owned in Tampa since 1960! Bill Currie Ford…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,2599,2598,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-754343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-bucs-message-boards","10":"tag-bucs-news","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-tampa-bay","14":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","15":"tag-tampabay","16":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116076032540063014","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}