Dallas Cowboys fans have to be sick of hearing about a potential trade for the Las Vegas Raiders' Maxx Crosby. Jerry Jones and the front office were certainly in on the sweepstakes for the star defensive end earlier this offseason, but times have changed.
After his trade with the Baltimore Ravens never went through due to a failed physical, which the Cowboys' team doctor had a hand in, Jones made it clear that Dallas wouldn't revisit the idea. They pivoted to Rashan Gary and drafted several options on the edge who could be quite promising.
But a world still exists where the Cowboys throw their hat back into the ring for "The Condor" down the road. And although the idea of landing a potentially healthy Crosby is still enticing, acquiring him may not necessarily signal that all is right in the world for Dallas.
Effectively, one condition exists for the Cowboys to take another strike at this piñata.
Dallas Cowboys should only trade for Maxx Crosby if youngsters fail to develop early
Dallas is well-positioned to take a run at the NFC East crown during the 2026 NFL season. And if they are at least in the hunt, they could feasibly be a buyer at the trade deadline in hopes of getting themselves over the hump. The Raiders being out of it seems likely, so it may be up to the Cowboys.
The only reason that Jones would target Crosby specifically, though, would be that Malachi Lawrence doesn't look like a first-rounder in the early going, and Donovan Ezeiruaku hasn't taken that Year 2 leap that Dallas needs him to in the absence of Jadeveon Clowney.
Again, yes, having Crosby is ostensibly a good thing. But Jones, barring an injury to a member of the defensive end group or something unforeseen, would effectively be admitting defeat on one or a series of high-profile moves that he's made over the last two offseasons.
Now, Jones doesn't have a problem ripping off the Band-Aid. That said, the hope is that the Cowboys have all that they need in-house to be playing important football in January. And with multiple options in the building to step up alongside Gary, it would be bad optics to go the blockbuster trade route.
Ideally, Ezeiruaku and Lawrence are who Dallas drafted them to be, and Gary is worth the invested capital as well. And if Crosby is playing well and Las Vegas isn't contending, one would hope that he doesn't end up with an NFC East foe or somewhere else in the conference as a threat.
So, for as exciting as the prospect of Crosby was just months ago, the complexion has completely changed now. The Cowboys should only travel down this road again if things get dire on the edge early in the season, and that isn't exactly a scenario that fans are pulling for.
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