The Raiders officially traded star defensive end Maxx Crosby to the Ravens on Saturday, ending months-long speculation regarding his future in Las Vegas. In return, Baltimore sent Las Vegas two first round picks.
After the news dropped, The Athletic’s James Palmer reported that the Cowboys and Jaguars made offers to the Raiders for Crosby. But, their offers didn’t compare to Baltimore’s two first-round picks.
These weren’t the only two other teams interested in securing Crosby in a trade. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Patriots reportedly popped up as a team eyeing Crosby this offseason. However, there was one clear obstacle in New England’s way: Tom Brady.
Brady, who won six Super Bowls with the Patriots across 20 seasons there, is currently a minority owner and a limited partner of the Raiders. He’s been a huge influence in the team’s hirings, trades, etc. And, it sounds like the future Hall of Famer was involved in discussions about Crosby.
Fowler spoke with someone involved in the Crosby trade, who made Brady’s involvement clear. “No way Tom was sending Maxx to [coach Mike] Vrabel,” the person told Fowler.
Brady and Vrabel don’t necessarily have beef with one another as they were previously teammates in New England from 2001 to ’08. However, it’s clear Brady didn’t want to send the Raiders’ top player to his former franchise as Crosby’s addition would only make New England a stronger competitor. Brady may have a lot of history, to say the least, with the Patriots, but it seems his focus is now fully on Las Vegas.
Brady made headlines with controversial Super Bowl pick
Brady’s been in the news quite a few times in 2026 already for seemingly not supporting the Patriots, a team where a statue of him stands outside of its stadium.
Ahead of Super Bowl LX between the Patriots and the Seahawks, Brady made some pretty controversial comments about not having a team to root for in the Big Game. Here’s what he said.
“I don’t have a dog in the fight in this one,” Brady told Jim Gray on the Let’s Go! podcast in early February. “May the best team win.”
It seems that Brady tried to “walk a careful line,” as Sports Illustrated’s Mike Kadlick wrote in a column, by not showing any bias in the league while he controversially serves in multiple high-profile roles (he works as Fox’s top game analyst, too). But, his lack of loyalty to his former team really upset many of his ex-teammates and figures among the league.
In retirement, Brady appears to be attempting to please everyone by not solely helping the Patriots and giving them all his praise. His reported blocking of Crosby to New England is the latest piece of that puzzle.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tom Brady Reportedly Did Not Want to Send Maxx Crosby to Patriots.
