Winners and Losers of the Maxx Crosby Trade to the Ravens

While the move for the All-Pro edge rusher seems like a win-win for all parties, GMs for Baltimore and the Raiders will be feeling the heat.

Maxx Crosby (top) will now join forces with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

The Raiders and Ravens pulled off the rare win-win-win trade in Friday night’s blockbuster move that involved star edge rusher Maxx Crosby. However, the GMs who executed the deal that sent shockwaves throughout the league could also be considered losers. 

Yes, Ravens GM Eric DeCosta now has a legitimate Super Bowl roster with Crosby on his side, and Raiders GM John Spytek landed the track package that seemed far-fetched for an edge rusher entering his age-29 season, but there’s now a ton of pressure on both decision-makers to make the most of their respective situations. 

What DeCosta and Spytek do moving forward will be put under a microscope, and the same can be said for their past moves. There’s now plenty of curiosity for what drove these two GMs to produce the biggest trade of the 2026 offseason. 

On one side, you have a team that gave up a ton to win now. On the other, you have a team that parted with a fan favorite that now has to explain to its angry fan base why it’s starting from scratch again. 

Coming 🔜 to Baltimore 🤯 pic.twitter.com/7lmRZrzdlH

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 7, 2026

Let’s assess all this for our winners and losers column. 

Winners

Raiders fans

It wasn’t easy for Raiders fans to say goodbye to a fan favorite. Additionally, many still remember how badly the team screwed up the draft picks acquired in the Khalil Mack trade with the Bears in 2018. 

With Crosby, Raiders fans knew what they’re getting from him every gameday. There are no guarantees that Spytek will hit on the two first-round picks he gained from the Ravens. So from that standpoint, I understand the mixed reaction from Raider Nation. But this was the best outcome to finally get this franchise headed in the right direction. 

Being afraid of past mistakes likely played a role in why majority team owner Mark Davis signed off on all the moves of the past decade that were supposed to ignite a quick fix, only to see disastrous results from the Davante Adams and Geno Smith trades, the hirings of Josh McDaniels and Jon Gruden 2.0 and many other regrettable decisions. 

Raiders fans should forget about the Mack trade and the JaMarcus Russell selection from 2007—the last time the Silver and Black took a QB in the first round. This organization was never going to get anywhere with a quick-fix mindset. The clean slate with a bounty of picks, including the No. 1 selection that will likely be used on quarterback Fernando Mendoza in April, offers this franchise hope for a bright future. 

Lamar Jackson

It wasn’t exactly a given that the Ravens were going to prioritize Jackson’s contract before the team landed Crosby. That’s now likely going to happen soon because Baltimore went from having $18.5 million in cap space to being $12.1 million over the limit following Friday’s blockbuster trade.

😊 pic.twitter.com/YVsXHIpfWa

— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) March 6, 2026

The best path toward being cap compliant before the new league year starts Wednesday is to give Jackson a new deal to significantly lower his $74.5 million camp number for 2026. So not only will Jackson get more guaranteed money—he has none after this season—he got reassurances from the team that they’re all in on winning now with the Crosby acquisition.

Baltimore could have gone the rebuilding route after parting with long-time coach John Harbaugh. Now, it’s obvious that they’re shooting for a Super Bowl title in 2026 despite having a first-time coach in Jesse Minter. 

AFC West 

This is more of a small win for the Chiefs, Chargers and Broncos because they didn’t have much trouble racking up wins vs. Crosby’s Raiders. But beating up on the Silver and Black twice a season just became easier without the elite edge rusher tossing around the offensive tackles in the division and putting a scare into Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Bo Nix.

However, the Raiders might not be the AFC West’s punching bag for much longer if Spytek hits on Baltimore’s two first-round picks and gives Mendoza ideal surroundings to produce fast results.  

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) will likely be relieved to not have to face Crosby twice a year. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Eagles GM Howie Roseman

I was surprised that the Raiders actually got two first-round picks for a player who has dealt with injuries the past two seasons and is entering his age-29 season. I was starting to believe that the team was just going to hold onto Crosby because they appeared reluctant to back off its high asking price. 

Now there’s no way Eagles GM Howie Roseman is going to come down from his asking price for star receiver A.J. Brown. He’s reportedly looking for at least a first rounder and second rounder, which would be more than what he gave up to acquire Brown from Tennessee in 2022.

After what the Raiders received from Crosby, I wouldn’t be shocked if someone gives Roseman what he’s asking for to part with the 28-year-old Brown.

Seahawks’ winning formula 

Not that the Seahawks need validation because they already got that from winning Super Bowl LX, but I wonder if they’re flattered from seeing the Ravens copying their blueprint for success. 

The Ravens fired their long-time coach with lots of success over the years partly because they were afraid of missing out on another up-and-coming defensive-minded coach who came up through their organization. Mike Macdonald was Baltimore’s defensive coordinator before taking the coaching job with the Seahawks, only needing two seasons to win a Lombardi Trophy with the dominant defense he built. 

Minter is now viewed as the next Macdonald because he’s also a former Baltimore coach who worked under Harbaugh before becoming a hotshot defensive coordinator for the Chargers.  

Maybe the Ravens are thinking they can replicate what Macdonald achieved in Seattle after pairing Minter with Crosby to possibly form a championship-caliber defense in 2026. Baltimore’s offseason moves seem awfully familiar. 

Cowboys fans 

Dallas reportedly offered Las Vegas a first- and second-round pick for Crosby. Cowboys fans should feel lucky that the Ravens matched the offer by giving up two first-round picks. 

Jerry Jones had no business being involved in the Crosby sweepstakes. He already had an elite edge rusher, one two years younger than Crosby, and he sent Micah Parsons packing to Green Bay. 

The Parsons trade was supposed to give the Cowboys a long-term path for building a Super Bowl contender. Instead, Jones has been looking to flip picks into veteran players to build another top-heavy roster. He already lost one of his first rounders from the Quinnen Williams trade at the deadline last year.  

Maybe Dallas should also be looking to copy Seattle’s winning formula after it won the Super Bowl by hitting on draft picks and trading away veteran players such as Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Smith. Jones needs to realize that the quick-fix route isn’t the way to go. 

Losers 

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta 

On one hand, DeCosta should be praised for going all in to maximize this Super Bowl window with Jackson. But you can also argue that he got desperate trading two first-round picks for an edge rusher in the back end of his prime. 

As we found out last year, the teams acquiring the star player didn’t see many positive results. The Packers were bounced in the wild-card round after Parsons sustained a season-ending knee injury, and the Colts quickly faded in the standings after coughing up two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner. 

With the Crosby trade and a new coach in Jesse Minter (left), GM Eric DeCosta (right) has reshaped the Ravens this offseason. | Lexi Thompson-Imagn Images

In a way, DeCosta put himself in this position because he has whiffed when it comes to adding talented edge rushers. He needed Macdonald to get the most out of an aging Kyle Van Noy to turn Baltimore into the top-ranked defense in 2023. Last year, DeCosta traded for Dre’Mont Jones, a player who’s more of an interior defensive lineman, because he needed him to help on the edge. 

Also, the draft picks for edge rushers Mike Green and David Ojabo haven’t panned out. And the team didn’t get much from Odafe Oweh before he found his stride working under Minter with the Chargers.  

If the Ravens don’t win it all with Crosby, that will be considered another failed decision at the edge rusher position and there might be no coming back from that if you’re DeCosta.

John Spytek’s draft skills 

Spytek should be considered a winner because he landed the trade package that was deemed a delusional asking price by many, myself included. 

But now the pressure is on Spytek to deliver on the extra first-round picks, and so far, he hasn't been successful with the draft. His first draft class with the Raiders gained more of a spotlight following the Crosby trade, due to the increased curiosity about his track record in that department. 

The jury is still out on the first-round selection of Ashton Jeanty, but it does make you wonder why Spytek felt the need to use a top-six pick on a running back while knowing that his roster still needed plenty of work. But the bigger concerns come from what he did with the following picks, especially with the second-round selection of wide receiver Jack Bech, who only had 20 catches for 224 yards as a rookie and only played 37% of the offensive snaps. 

Cornerback Darien Porter, the 2025 third-round pick, carved out a starting role for himself, but that was more due to the lack of depth in the secondary—and he had his fair share of rough moments. 

Outside of Jeanty’s potential, there’s not much promise from Spytek’s initial draft class with the Raiders, and that’s very concerning for a guy who has a ton of pressure for nailing the draft picks he gained from the Crosby trade.   

Raiders DC Rob Leonard 

Maybe this one is nitpicking because Leonard did get promoted from defensive line coach to defensive coordinator this offseason, a substantial victory for his coaching career.  

But now Leonard is tasked with improving arguably the worst defense on paper. There might not be a single cornerstone piece on this unit. 

Also, the leash could be short on Leonard because new coach Klint Kubiak likely needed to be convinced by Spytek to retain him from the previous coaching regime. If he’s not Kubiak’s guy and this defense gets torched the first month of the season, the blame game probably will start with Leonard. 

Joe Burrow 

Burrow’s job got harder after the Ravens pulled off the blockbuster trade. In the division alone, Burrow has to face Crosby, Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt behind an offensive line that struggled throughout the 2025 season. 

To make matters worse, the Bengals could soon be losing their top edge rusher, Trey Hendrickson, when free agency opens next week. Perhaps Burrow should ask Cincinnati for upgrades along the offensive line, but this team also needs plenty of help on the defensive side.  

For a guy who gets to throw passes to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Burrow is going to need a lot of assistance.

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