Raiders must blame themselves after tanking Maxx Crosby’s trade value in low blow for Tom Brady

There are many ways to successfully run an elite NFL team.

The Raiders’ way under Tom Brady has not been the right way.

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Brady keeps missing as Raiders embarrassed

Maxx Crosby’s failed physical on Tuesday that wrecked a blockbuster trade with the Baltimore Ravens is Brady’s biggest blunder since … Deflategate?

OK. That might be a little strong.

But what is increasingly indisputable is the fact that the greatest quarterback of all-time keeps getting it wrong as the only hands-on NFL minority owner with a $375 million conflict of interest.

Blame it on Birmingham City not being as good as Wrexham and struggling to get out of the Championship, if you want.

Point out that no one can do everything, and the greatest quarterback of all-time keeps failing to read the fine print while running Mark Davis’ $7.7bn baby, if you insist.

Yet what all NFL fans can universally agree on is that the Raiders have been a disaster for years, and what was once one of the league’s proudest franchises keeps making mistake after mistake under the guidance of TB12.

From missing on Super Bowl-winner Sam Darnold, overpaying Geno Smith, getting it wrong with Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly, and the needless insertion of Alex Guerrero, Brady is either trusting the wrong people or not listening to the right professional voices.

Crosby getting dropped by the Ravens before he even puts on a Baltimore uniform is the lowest blow yet for Brady in his weird Raiders era.

Crosby turned off by Las Vegas’ style

Lamar Jackson‘s Super Bowl dream also deserves a sincere apology.

“I’m going to give everything in my heart and soul to bring a championship to Baltimore,” posted Crosby, after the Ravens agreed to send two first-round picks to Las Vegas.

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“I’m so excited. I cannot wait to get out to the city and meet everybody.”

But that won’t happen now, and one of the biggest failed trades in NFL history can be directly traced to the Raiders’ decision to tank at the end of the 2025 season.

Crosby decided that he was finally done with Las Vegas, despite spending years pledging his allegiance to a franchise that has perfected the modern art of firing head coaches and coordinators.

Brady’s team was forced to trade Crosby to try and salvage a locker room that had become accustomed to being broken, and the whole league knew that Las Vegas was looking to move its best player.

Will Bears or Lions bail out Raiders?

But Crosby had also undergone left knee surgery in January, which meant that the Raiders didn’t have as much leverage as they believed.

The Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears or Dallas Cowboys could salvage this failed deal and give expected No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza key additions.

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But that still won’t erase Brady’s easy to predict misfires with Carroll, Kelly, Smith and a 3-14 season in 2025 that hardened Crosby’s organizational resentment.

“The hardest part is that people think that because he’s Tom Brady and the greatest of all time, that he can just go and learn another skillset and be great,” NFL Network analyst Marc Ross exclusively told talkSPORT.

“It’s so hard to be an executive in the NFL. A GM, a personnel director, a scouting director. There’s a whole skillset that you have to learn and know, and you can’t just walk in and say, ‘Just because I’m Tom Brady, I know this.’ “

The Raiders spent more than $280m during the initial 24 hours of free agency — including a historic $81m on center Tyler Linderbaum — while $2.3bn was promised throughout the league.

Only one team blew a roster-changing blockbuster trade that was supposed to create a new foundation for a ‘perfect’ rookie franchise QB.

Brady’s bad news Raiders.

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