Fact Check: Can The Raiders Still Afford To Keep All Their Big-Money Free Agent Signings AND Maxx Crosby?
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
Over five days, Maxx Crosby was traded to the Ravens, the trade was called off, and Baltimore decided to sign Trey Hendrickson.
The Las Vegas Raiders cleared approximately million in salary cap space by trading Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens. The move resulted in only $5 million in dead cap.
Following the anticipated trade, the team agreed to deals with several key free agents, as it had the cap space to do so. Key signings included center Tyler Linderbaum, linebacker Quay Walker, linebacker Nakobe Dean, edge rusher Kwity Paye, wide receiver Jalen Nailor, cornerback Eric Stokes, and kicker Matt Gay.
None of those players can be signed until 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 11. That leaves one glaring question: will all of them get their contracts now that Maxx Crosby’s is back on the books?
The Raiders Will Be Just Fine With Maxx Crosby’s Contract Back On The Books
A social media post stated that the team is now dealing with severe cap issues. It surfaced from a parody page.
Breaking: The #Raiders can’t afford to take Maxx Crosby back with the players they verbally agreed to terms with.
They may have to back out of contracts if they are unable to find a trade partner quickly.
Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/syF6jOYFNn
— Adam Ferrell (@AdamFerrellNFL) March 11, 2026
In reality, that is not true.
According to Over the Cap, the Raiders had $67M in cap space before the Ravens backed out of the Crosby trade. Even with him back on the books, the team will still have $37.9M, which is more than enough. Before trading him, they could also restructure Crosby’s contract to free up even more space.
NFL insider Albert Breer also reported that the Raiders plan to honor all signings.
Source: The Raiders will honor all the agreements they made with free agents—both their own and the incoming guys—over the last 48 hours, despite the stunning developments of last night.
All options remain in play with Maxx Crosby. Vegas is certainly very open to keeping him.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 11, 2026
As for the Ravens, they would go on to sign Trey Henderson to a massive deal. They may have gotten their replacement for Maxx Crosby, but other teams around the league might not deal with them in the future.
Nevertheless, this will be a fascinating situation to watch moving forward. Will Crosby be traded again when it’s all said and done? We’ll just have to wait and see.
