Following the loss to the Buffalo Bills, it's abundantly clear that the Jacksonville Jaguars must bolster their pass rush this offseason. The good news is that they'll have several options to do it. The most obvious one is the NFL Draft.
The Jags have four selections on Day 2. They could easily use one of them to round out the rotation behind Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen. The issue with turning to the draft is that readiness is always variable, so there's no guarantee Jacksonville will come out with a good pass rusher. That's why they could resort to free agency.
Trey Hendrickson will be one of the Jags' top options available. The downside is that he's a proven commodity, and as such, he'll command a salary that reflects his status as one of the most dominant defenders in the league. One last option would be to add reinforcements via trade.
The Las Vegas Raiders could shop defensive end Maxx Crosby, and he could be the perfect pass rusher opposite Hines-Allen. However, an NFL insider just revealed that acquiring him won't be cheap.
The Jaguars will have to give up a haul bigger than Micah Parson's to trade for Maxx Crosby
Maxx Crosby has been the subject of trade chatter this offseason because he may not be part of another rebuild after the Raiders ousted head coach Pete Carroll. On top of that, his relationship with Las Vegas soured because he wanted to play late in the season, but the team placed him on Injured Reserve instead.
Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports wrote ahead of Super Bowl weekend that trading for Crosby would cost a first and a second-rounder. However, insider Jay Glazer of FOX NFL Sunday revealed that landing him would require a haul like the one the Green Bay Packers paid for pass rusher Micah Parsons last year.
For context, the Packers got Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Even if that's the price to pay for Crosby, he'll have no shortage of suitors if the Silver & Black puts him on the trade block.
The same day, Glazer discussed Crosby, Dianna Russini of The Athletic stated, via Mark Dondero of
98.5 The Sport Hub, The Condor would like to play for Mike Vrabel, the head coach of the New England Patriots. The Pats, for their part, would surely love to get Crosby. Heck, nearly half the teams in the NFL would.
A fourth-round pick in 2019, Crosby has spent his whole career with the Raiders. He's appeared in 110 games with 104 starts and registered 69.5 sacks. Along the way, the former Eastern Michigan Eagle has earned five Pro Bowl designations. The Jaguars would love to have a player of that caliber.
The Jaguars may ended up passing on Maxx Crosby
If the Jaguars were interested in trading for Maxx Crosby — there are no signs from an outside perspective — they need to, at some point, decide whether trading for him truly makes sense. If all it took was Brian Thomas Jr. and a second-round selection, maybe it would made sense. But if the Jags had to give up two first-rounders AND a player, that's simply too excessive.
It's also worth noting that aside from needing to compensate the Raiders, Jacksonville would need to take on Crosby's contract. Granted, it's relatively manageable as he doesn't have a cap hit higher than $29 million in any of the three remaining years on the deal. Nevertheless, there may be less expensive alternatives to bolster the pass rush.
Granted, most of the players the Jaguars could target wouldn't be as good as Maxx Crosby, but they would get to keep their draft picks, which they could later use to address other pressing needs.