The San Francisco 49ers are riding high right now with a 4-0 record, and they’re looking like the best team in the NFL and the favorites to win the Super Bowl. They could be riding even higher with a trade for Las Vegas Raiders star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby.
However, championship teams should never pass up an opportunity to get better, and the 49ers still have a little room for improvement, even on the defensive side of the football.
Nick Bosa, their star defensive end, is quite possibly the best pass rusher in the league, and new addition Javon Hargrave has added another pass-rushing threat at defensive tackle. But they do rank just 17th in passing yards, and thus they could use a little more pressure up front.
What if the Niners traded for Crosby and went all-in on defense, similar to what the Los Angeles Rams did two years ago when they won it all?
Former San Francisco cornerback Richard Sherman thinks the Raiders, who are struggling again at 1-3, should trade Crosby because he isn’t being maximized there.
“Maxx Crosby deserves a lot of credit, he deserves a lot more credit than he’s getting,” said Sherman. “But he plays for the Raiders and he always has something overshadow him. But Maxx Crosby has been an amazing player in the National Football League for a long time, and is continuing to make an impact week in and week out. I just hope he gets to a team that could utilize him correctly. I don’t know if it’s the San Francisco 49ers, the Jets, the Cowboys even—somewhere that’s going to use him and get him the spotlight that he deserves because, my goodness, he is wasting away in Las Vegas, and you hate to see it.”
What if the Niners tried this package to pry Crosby away from their former Bay Area rivals?
49ers Receive: Maxx Crosby
Raiders Receive: 2024 First-Round Pick, 2024 Third-Round Pick
Parting with next year’s first-rounder seems steep, but Crosby is only 26 years of age and seems to be on the upswing. He had 12.5 sacks and a league-high 22 tackles for loss last season, and so far this season he’s at 4.0 sacks, four tackles for loss and six quarterback hits.
Crosby’s contract is somewhat pricey, but San Francisco does have enough cap space to absorb his contract.
“Crosby is not cheap—he just signed a four-year, $94 million contract this offseason—but his 2023 cap hit is only $13 million, and the Niners are sitting on more than $40 million in room,” wrote Sean Deveney of Heavy.
At the same time, it seems unlikely Las Vegas would seriously entertain trading Crosby, especially given how young he is, and perhaps the Niners’ cap space could be put to better use.
If they want to upgrade their defense, how about going after a cornerback? Their defense can be attacked downfield via the pass, and it could be a costly weakness for them later on. Or how about an upgrade for the right side of their offensive line?
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