Record set straight on Maxx Crosby Rams trade rumors

Before landing Myles Garrett to terrorize opposing quarterbacks, the Rams inquired about another player capable of doing the same.

Raiders star Maxx Crosby.

But there is an important distinction between Crosby wanting to remain in Las Vegas and turning down a trade to Los Angeles.

According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, Crosby communicated his desire to stay with the Raiders after the Ravens trade fell through.

When the Rams contacted the Raiders to ask about his availability, they were told Las Vegas was keeping him.

No offer followed. No trade parameters were agreed upon. And no deal was presented to Crosby for him to accept or reject.

So while the situation has been characterized as Crosby saying no to the Rams, the more precise explanation is that he wanted to remain a Raider — and the Rams’ inquiry never advanced beyond that initial conversation.

And after one week, there is reason to believe the way things unfolded might have worked out pretty well for Crosby and the Raiders.

One win over the Dolphins will not erase years of frustration. But the Raiders looked like a team with a plan, players capable of executing it and a coaching staff that knows how to bring it together.

For Crosby, that matters.

His desire to be traded grew out of dwindling patience with rebuilding programs that kept promising a better future without ever delivering one. There are only so many fresh starts an elite player can embrace while the prime of his career ticks away.

The early indication under new head coach Klint Kubiak is that this version might actually be going somewhere.

Crosby has more help. The defense showed signs of functioning as a connected unit. And the Raiders gave him something more substantial than another offseason sales pitch.

They put evidence on the field.

It is a start, with plenty still to prove. But it helps explain why remaining in Las Vegas could become a positive outcome for a player whose frustration was rooted in wanting to win.

As for how he remained a Raider, the sequence is fairly straightforward.

According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, the Rams contacted the Raiders soon after the Baltimore trade unraveled. They wanted to understand whether Crosby might still be available and whether there was reason to pursue a discussion.

Were the Raiders still considering moving him? Were they open to hearing from another interested team? Or had they decided to move forward with Crosby in Las Vegas?

For the Rams, it was a logical call.

When a player of Crosby’s caliber appears potentially available, there is every reason to check. The collapse of one trade created an obvious question about whether another could follow.

But the answer the Rams received, according to sources, was that the Raiders were standing pat.

The inquiry did not develop into an offer. The teams did not agree to compensation. And the process never reached a stage at which Crosby was presented with a potential Rams deal that he then brought to a halt.

His remaining in Las Vegas was more straightforward than it has sometimes been represented.

There was a personal component, too.

According to sources familiar with the circumstances, the Raiders represented familiarity and stability for Crosby after the jolt of the Baltimore deal falling through. There was comfort in the team he knew and the place where he had built his career.

But finding reassurance in Las Vegas and turning down Los Angeles are separate things.

There is no way to know how Crosby would have responded had the teams negotiated a deal. Perhaps he would have welcomed the possibility. Perhaps he would have preferred to stay.

It never got that far.

None of this means the Raiders’ phone will stop ringing.

There are a handful of teams with a championship window open right now and every reason to believe a pass rusher like Crosby could help push them through it. It does not take much imagination to identify the kinds of contenders that might check on his availability.

That is the nature of having a player who can change a game, particularly for a team trying to win the handful of January possessions that separate a contender from a Super Bowl participant.

Whether any future inquiry leads somewhere is another question. The Rams’ call offers no answer to it.

What could change the conversation is the Raiders giving Crosby more reasons to believe his own team is building toward something worthwhile.

Sunday was an encouraging first installment.

The challenge now is making it repeatable, against better opponents and through the inevitable difficulties of a long season.

Crosby was tired of being asked to believe in progress he could not see.

For at least one week, the Raiders gave him a good look at it.