Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby spoke out Thursday on persistent trade speculation but stopped short of saying whether he wants to be dealt from the only NFL team he has known.
Crosby, appearing on the “Let’s Go!” podcast, dismissed the swirling reports without directly addressing a New York Post story that said he told minority owner Tom Brady he wants out.
Adding to the onslaught of speculation involving the Las Vegas Raiders’ star defensive end’s future that dominated the rumor mill during the Super Bowl week, the NFL offseason kicked off Monday morning with a report from longtime NFL reporter Jason LaCanfora of SportsBoom.com that Crosby has told Raiders’ part owner Tom Brady he will never play for the Raiders again.
Crosby could have denied it, but he didn’t.
“Everyone’s hitting me up, ‘Did you say this?’ I can’t control that,” Crosby said. “You earn that as a player. If I wasn’t doing the right things and if I wasn’t the person and player I was, people wouldn’t be talking about all of the nonsense.”
He added: “If you have drama, if you have a losing season, they just try to throw gasoline on the fire and make things a certain way. For me, I know what I’m about, I know what I represent. I really don’t care what everybody has to say.”
Crosby summed up his mindset simply: “I just want to play football and be left the f–k alone.”
The comments come after a rocky end to the 2025 season. The seven-year veteran recorded 10 sacks in 15 games before the Raiders shut him down for the final two contests because of a lingering knee injury. Crosby reportedly stormed out of the team facility when informed he would not play against the Giants.
He was also absent from new head coach Klint Kubiak’s introductory news conference Tuesday. Kubiak said he met with Crosby earlier that day and was “looking forward to continuing those conversations.”
Crosby has 69.5 career sacks, all with the Raiders, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2019.
The Raiders finished 2025 with a losing record, and the combination of the team’s struggles, Crosby’s injury shutdown and his absence from team events has kept trade rumors alive. No further comment was immediately available from Crosby, the Raiders or his representatives.
