This Joe Burrow-Maxx Crosby trade package would actually break the NFL

We know that Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is happy in the Queen City. At least he is for now, as the team aspires to return to the playoffs in 2026 for the first time in four years.

If the Bengals fall short of that goal, though, you best believe Burrow is booking it out of Cincinnati. He'll turn 30 in December, and has little time to waste in pursuit of not one, but multiple Super Bowls. Let's just hope Cincinnati's front office matches his energy in that regard.

News broke on Wednesday that Raiders superstar Maxx Crosby officially wants out of Las Vegas.

Not that the Bengals are in the business of trading Burrow before the 2026 season. On the other hand, an opportunity to score a haul like this, while benefiting both Joe Brr's suitor and Cincinnati, will likely never come again.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hit the reset button on an injury-plagued QB and, somehow, upgrade over the best free-agent signing in franchise history, Trey Hendrickson.

Now that we know Maxx Crosby wants out from Raiders, what would a Joe Burrow trade with the Bengals look like?

Full disclosure: I'm obsessed with team-building and the wonders of the multiverse. I would have moved Heaven and Earth to acquire Ja'Marr Chase, Penei Sewell and Kyle Pitts in the 2021 NFL Draft. If I were in Duke Tobin's seat, the Bengals would already be Super Bowl champions.

I'm also a realist. I know the Bengals are cheap. They bumbled and stumbled their way into drafting Burrow and Chase in the first place. Cincinnati won't miss a chance to pinch pennies.

Now granted, when Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer reported that Crosby is angling for a trade, he emphasized how Maxx has no interest in another rebuild.

You'd think a blockbuster deal involving Burrow would send Cincinnati straight into one. But maybe not.

I've written a similar, alternate-timeline piece at Just Blog Baby about how 2026 is actually where everything lines up for the Raiders to leverage Crosby in a trade package that sends Burrow to Vegas. Here's what I came up with:

• Bengals receive: DE Maxx Crosby, 2026 No. 1 overall pick, two additional 1st-round picks, two 2nd-round picks & three 3rd-round picks
• Raiders receive: QB Joe Burrow

You're telling me that the Bengals wouldn't at least consider that? I mean, that's a Godfather offer if I've ever seen one.

First of all, Cincinnati scores the rights to Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza. If he's not ready to play right away? Cool, run it back with Joe Flacco as the bridge starter. He balled out in the Bengals' offense in 2025 alongside Chase and Tee Higgins.

That may seem like way too much for the Raiders to sacrifice, but think about it. Swapping the contracts of Crosby and Burrow actually saves Las Vegas $5 million in 2026 or thereabouts.

GM John Spytek would have north of $96 million in cap space to work with — and that's before any restructures, veteran cap casualties, and so on. The Raiders would have one hundred and ninety-two million dollars in 2027 cap space as well.

As for the Bengals? Even with Crosby's hefty contract on the books through 2029, they'd have over $173 million in cap space of their own for 2027. Plus a boatload of super-cheap, premium draft assets for years to come.

Let me just dig into a quick mock draft for this wildin' scenario:

• Round 1, Pick 1 — Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
• Round 1, Pick 10 — Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State
• Round 2, Pick 36 — Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, S, Toledo
• Round 2, Pick 41 — Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana
• Round 3, Pick 67 — Kamari Ramsey, NB, USC
• Round 3, Pick 72 — Darrell Jackson Jr., DT, Florida State

Phenomenal for Cincinnati, no? They could also just go "best player available" at No. 1 if they weren't sold on Mendoza and sign, say, Malik Willis as the new QB1.

Or leverage those 2027 and 2028 assets into another mind-blowing trade for a big-name QB. Or give Willis a two-year deal that's really a one-year trial run that, if it blows up, gives you a real shot at Arch Manning in the 2027 draft. The possibilities are really endless.

But how fired up would soon-to-be Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak be to have Prime Joe Burrow as his QB? The ripple effect is incalculable in terms of how much credibility Burrow's presence would bring to the Raiders organization.

Can you say, "Hottest free-agent destination in the NFL?" Because that's what Las Vegas would be with Burrow in the Sin City mix.

Trey Hendrickson could follow Burrow to Vegas and get paid what he's worth whilst also enjoying the luxury of no state income tax on home games. Heck, the Bengals could kick Hendrickson into the trade as a tag-and-trade guy.

However it'd work out, Hendrickson would have the multi-year contract he'd want and, you know, actually get guaranteed money beyond the first season.

On Burrow's end, he'd join a franchise where Tom Brady is a part owner. He'd have Brock Bowers to throw to. Free-agent wide receivers like, say, George Pickens and Alec Pierce would be falling over themselves for the chance to play with Joe Shiesty.

To be as crystal-clear about this as possible: No, the Cincinnati Bengals are not trading Joe Burrow this year. It just so happens that all the planets are aligned to make a deal happen. Still, that doesn't mean the Bengals should pull the trigger.