The Maxx Crosby trade sweepstakes has come to a quick close as the Raiders have agreed to trade Crosby to the Ravens according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. As part of the trade the Ravens will part with two first round picks, which is an incredibly high price to pay for a veteran player and a very strong return for the Raiders. Crosby has been considered one of the elite pass rushers in the NFL and has produced double digit sacks in three of the last four seasons.

The Ravens will take on what is technically a $35.5 million per year contract, but the cost will be far under that for the Ravens. The four year average value of the contract for Baltimore is just $29.126 million which would be 8th at the position in the NFL. He has a salary and maximum cap charge in 2026 of $30.782 million. That number drops to $29.782 million in 2027, though his salary is fully guaranteed for that year. In 2028 he has a cap and cash number of $27.282 million and finally has a $28.212 million salary for 2029. The Ravens will need to create about $10 million more in cap room to actually execute this trade. The earliest the trade can happen is March 11.

For the Raiders this was a no brainer of a trade. They are in complete rebuilding mode and Crosby has expressed his unhappiness with everything going on with the team. Wisely they did not drag this out and once a team met their price they agreed to the deal. This value far exceeds what you would expect for a non QB on a third contract.

The Raiders had signed Crosby to four year extension in 2022 that ran through 2026 and averaged $23.5 million a year. He far exceeded the value of the contract and the team opted to add on three more years last season that would average $37.5 million a year, making him, at the time, the highest paid non-QB in the NFL.

Whether by design or by luck the Raiders did not add any major signing bonus to the contract when they extended him. While they did give him a $10.15 million raise for the year that was all accounted for last season. They will carry just $5.1 million in dead money and open up another $30.69 million in cap room. Once the Geno Smith release is processed the Raiders will have just under $130 million in cap room, far and away the most in the NFL. Between this and the draft selections they have a tremendous opportunity to remake their team for the future. Don’t expect them to use all of that space this year as this should be a long term vision that they execute, but Raiders fans should be excited about the potential for their team following this trade.