Ravens agree to acquire All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby from Raiders for 2 1st-round picks

Brian Wacker, The Baltimore Sun on Mar 6, 2026

Published in Football

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BALTIMORE — Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta intimated in January that Baltimore could pursue a couple of “big-ticket items” this offseason. They landed one of the biggest on Friday night.

The Las Vegas Raiders have agreed to trade two-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby to the Ravens in exchange for Baltimore’s first-round draft pick in 2026 and 2027, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Baltimore Sun.

The blockbuster deal is easily the most significant trade Baltimore has made in years. That DeCosta was willing to part with notable draft capital was also telling of his conviction that Crosby, a player with elite pass rush skills and relentless motor, can immediately help turn around what was one of the worst defenses in the NFL last season, particularly when it came to getting to the quarterback.

“We certainly know that we have to augment the pass rush and improve there, and when we look at the best defenses, we see a ferocious pass rush, and that was lacking this year for different reasons,” DeCosta said at the NFL scouting combine two weeks ago, adding that it’s a position he felt Baltimore could “attack” this offseason.

Now the hope is that Crosby, who will turn 30 in August, will do the same to opposing offenses.

There is ample evidence that he could have a major impact and help return Baltimore to being one of the league’s more feared defenses.

Crosby has 69 1/2 sacks across six seasons, racking up at least 10 in four of them, including last season. Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones led the Ravens last year with five sacks, and Baltimore’s 30 tied for the third-fewest in the NFL, with the defense also languishing near the bottom in pressure rate and pass rush win-rate. By contrast, Crosby hit double digits in sacks despite missing the final two games because of a meniscus injury and finished with 73 tackles, two forced fumbles, six pass breakups and his first career interception. A stout run defender, his 28 tackles for loss also ranked second behind only NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, and he has twice led the league in the category.

His arrival also gives the Ravens their most forbidding pass rusher since Terrell Suggs and bolsters a group in need of top-tier talent as much as depth, with outside linebackers Dre’Mont Jones, Kyle Van Noy and David Ojabo all due to be free agents.

Second-year edge rusher Mike Green, whom Baltimore selected in the second round of last year’s draft, should benefit from Crosby’s presence as well. He had just 3 1/2 sacks in his first season, but his 34 pressures, per Pro Football Focus, ranked sixth among rookies. Outside of Green and Crosby, the Ravens’ only other outside linebackers are Tavius Robinson, who is more suited as a dependable edge setter than as a pass rusher, and Adisa Isaac, who was injured most of his first two seasons.

The trade for Crosby is also Baltimore’s most notable acquisition since dealing for linebacker Roquan Smith midway through the 2022 season for a second-round pick and fifth-round pick and their most noteworthy for a pass rusher since trading a third- and fifth-round pick for outside linebacker Yannick Ngakoue during the 2020 season, a deal that did not pan out well for the Ravens. Landing Crosby, though, is far more momentous.

The Ravens are also well acquainted with his disruptive abilities.

Following a 2024 Week 2 upset by the Raiders over Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium, Crosby was named AFC Player of the Week for his two sacks, six tackles, including four for loss, and one pass breakup.

Despite his past two seasons being cut short by injury, he has also been largely durable. Crosby has played 94 games since 2020 and ranks second in pressures and third in quarterback hits during that span.

“There’s a lot of factors, I would say, that go into rushing the passer well,” Ravens first-year coach and former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said last month. “Sometimes, it’s playing with the lead; sometimes it’s blitzing more. So, I think there’s a variety of ways to affect the pass rush.”

Starting with having a highly impactful pass rusher.

A 2019 fourth-round pick out of Eastern Michigan by the Raiders — a franchise whose unofficial motto evoked the idea that the other team’s quarterback needs to go down and go down hard — Crosby ranks third in franchise history in sacks behind Greg Townsend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Howie Long. He also has 439 career tackles, including 133 for loss, and 164 quarterback hits.