Raiders’ Maxx Crosby opens up about relationship with Tom Brady amid trade rumors

According to NFL insider Adam Schefter of ESPN, Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek told reporters on Tuesday that he "expects" star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby will be with the team through at least the start of the 2026 season. 

Crosby became the subject of trade rumors even before it was learned that he was upset about being shut down for the remainder of the 2025 campaign in late December due to a knee injury. During a recent chat with DJ Siddiqi of SportsBoom, Crosby hinted that he may want to keep working with Raiders minority owner and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.

Maxx Crosby, Tom Brady have a "good relationship"

"Yeah, me and Tom, ever since he kind of came into the picture, we've had a good relationship," Crosby explained. "Me and him talk from time to time. It's not all the time. I don't see him much, but we've been connected through phone calls or in person once in a while. He's a Fanatics guy as well, so I got to meet him before. I'm a Fanatics guy. We have that connection with [Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin] and that team as well."

A report from earlier in February claimed that Crosby told Brady at some point this winter that the 28-year-old "will never play for the Raiders again." It sounds like Crosby offered no indication during his conversation with Siddiqi that the 2019 fourth-round draft pick made such a declaration to Brady.

"Tom is about all the right things," Crosby told Siddiqi. "He's a winner. He's proven as the all-time greatest quarterback to ever do it. Got a lot of respect for what he's done and accomplished."

What Maxx Crosby has learned from Tom Brady amid Raiders' struggles

Crosby has played in just one playoff game during his Raiders tenure, and the club finished this season with a lackluster 3-14 record. Despite the team's struggles, Crosby has been able to take some positives from having Brady associated with the franchise. 

"I think the biggest thing that stuck with me the most is just about there's a difference between champions and stars," Crosby told Siddiqi about what he's learned from TB12. "There's people who are star players, but they're not good teammates. They're all about themselves. That's all they care about. That's just what they are. They're really good players. They're gonna have successful careers. But champions are forever, and they live on forever. You can be a great player, but also be a great teammate, and that's what being a champion is. You can't do it alone. Tom couldn't do it alone. He would tell you that himself. I can't do it alone. You got to have as many guys kind of on that type of energy and time."

It's unclear if Crosby trusts that Spytek and Brady can collect enough "champions" to turn the Raiders into a playoff team under recently hired head coach Klint Kubiak. Then again, Crosby did sign a three-year, $106.5M contract extension last offseason, so Spytek could play hardball if Crosby goes public with a trade request as soon as this week.