The Chicago Bears Were Smart to Pass Up on Trading For Maxx Crosby

Maxx Crosby is one of the league's most dominant pass-rushers. I was excited when the Bears became the betting favorites to land the five-time Pro Bowler.

Then I found out how much the Raiders were looking to receive for his services.

ESPN sources: the Raiders agreed to trade five-time Pro-Bowl DE Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for 2026 and 2027 first-round picks.

The trade cannot be processed until next week, but it is in place. And Crosby is expected to be a Raven with two 1s back to Vegas. pic.twitter.com/rfExCLpXfF
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 7, 2026

Now, Maxx Crosby is good... He's great, even. However, should he be worth similar compensation to what the Cowboys got for Micah Parsons? Absolutely not.

In fact, I'd argue the Raiders got even better compensation for Crosby. They secured the guaranteed 14th pick, while the Packers ultimately sent the 20th overall selection to Dallas in a season where they fell short of expectations as one of the favorites in the NFC. They could've (and probably expected to be) picking 28th with that one.

Crosby will be turning 29 before the start of the 2026 NFL season. Meanwhile, Parsons played through the entire 2025 NFL season at the age of 26. Crosby has also dealt with a myriad of injuries over the past couple of years and has undergone surgery following each of the past two seasons (with him going under the knife on his knee after the '24 season and on his ankle after the '25 season).

He's far from damaged goods and was still just as dominant as ever when he was on the field this season. However, it's fair to wonder whether those injuries will begin to take their toll.

Also, this isn't some revisionist history opinion piece. I'm not only writing this because he didn't wind up being a Bear after we've all been pining for him for the past month. I wrote that I don't think the Bears should give up the desired compensation for him a month ago.

I was hoping those rumors were just noise to drive up his asking price, but they clearly carried some weight. I would've been happy to trade our 25th pick this year and a second-rounder next year. I also wouldn't have been too upset if they traded the 25th pick, one of our seconds this year, and a third next year.

Two ones (and then some) was just never going to be worth it, though.

Those upset that they didn't cough up the desired compensation should recognize that we would've had to cough up at least one of our second-rounders this year on top of two firsts to outbid the Ravens' offer. They're picking 11 spots ahead of us in the draft... Seeing that trade hit the Twittersphere would make me want to gouge my eyes out. I'd honestly feel similar if I were a Ravens fan who just shipped out the 14th pick in an absolutely loaded edge class.

Chicago will still have plenty of options to improve their pass rush next week in free agency or through the 2026 NFL Draft. Crosby was not the only great edge rusher who was available this offseason. In fact, it's a great year to need one.

Eight years ago, the Bears pulled off an iconic trade for an elite Raiders pass-rusher. Four years later, they shipped him out of town for pennies on the dollar. I'm not saying that a trade for Mad Maxx would follow the same trajectory, but I firmly believe the Bears were smart for valuing their high-end draft picks.