A young San Francisco 49ers fan recently approached Maxx Crosby, pleading for the Las Vegas Raiders defensive end to join her favorite team.
Crosby couldn't help but laugh before responding, "I can't. I can't. Hey, I still appreciate you doing your homework, though. You never know. You're the best, though."
Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon made eight bold training camp predictions, and one has the young 49ers fan's wish coming true.
San Francisco has often been linked to Crosby in offseason speculation. It's no secret that the talented pass rusher has grown frustrated with the Raiders' repeated rebuilds and would prefer to play for a more stable organization than starting over every couple of years.
The 49ers certainly qualify as stable and still have a roster capable of competing in the NFC. They could use another veteran pass rusher with Nick Bosa and last year's first-round pick, Mykel Williams, both returning from torn ACLs.
Gagnon believes the 49ers are "slow-playing" their edge-rusher situation, waiting to see how their injured returning defensive linemen have progressed.
"Bosa still has a chance to be back for Week 1, but who knows how much of a factor he can be, and Williams is a huge question mark anyway," Gagnon wrote. "That being the case, look for a desperate veteran team in win-now mode to make a splash move for Maxx Crosby this summer."
The Raiders had reached an agreement with the Baltimore Ravens to deal Crosby, but Baltimore backed out at the last minute, reportedly due to concern after Crosby's physical. If the veteran pass rusher can show in training camp that he is fully healthy, expect interest from other teams to grow.
Of course, Crosby will have a significant impact on any interested team's salary cap. He is slated to earn a base salary of $30 million in 2026, and then at least $26.5 million in each of the next three seasons, according to Over The Cap.
"The soon-to-be 29-year-old is still awesome but may be nearing the back side of his prime, and it makes little sense for a rebuilding team to keep him around on that kind of contract," Gagnon added.
"What does make sense is trading him to an NFC team that is ready and trying to win now, needs edge help, and happens to be located in the same region in which Crosby started his NFL career."
Comments