After a surprise run to the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots find themselves at a bit of a crossroads.
You could make the case that the Patriots should go “all-in” this offseason, spending significant resources to acquire high-end talent via trades or free agency with the explicit goal of getting back to the Super Bowl as soon as possible while quarterback Drake Maye is still on his rookie deal.
But you could also make the case for patience: Head coach Mike Vrabel insisted on several occasions that the 2025 season was just Year 1 of a multi-year plan to build a team that can contend for years to come, and giving up premium assets to acquire older players on richer deals wouldn’t necessarily fit that timeline.
A trade for Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby certainly would fall in that category.
While Crosby’s talent as a five-time Pro Bowler is undeniable, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Raiders would only move him for a “Micah Parsons-type package” that includes multiple first-round picks and an impact player. Crosby also carries a $35.8 million cap hit for 2026 and will turn 29 in August.
For those reasons, our Patriots Insider Phil Perry assumed folks in NFL circles would be out on New England pursuing a trade for Crosby. But while speaking with sources at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Perry heard a different message.
“Talking to people in Indy, I thought anytime I would mention the name Maxx Crosby, for instance, people would laugh in my face,” Perry told Tom E. Curran on a new Patriots Talk Podcast. “(They’d) say what we’re saying right now, which is, ‘You have to understand where the team is right now. Are they going to really pay a 29-year-old player who’s dealt with some injury lately? He’s going to make $30 million in base salary next year alone. You’d have to trade a first-round pick and maybe more for him.’
“And I found it interesting that really smart people have looked at me and said, ‘Hey, if the price is right, they should really consider that.'”
To Perry, that message from NFL sources is a sign that the Patriots might pursue a middle ground of sorts: being financially responsible with a focus on drafting and developing talent, but also giving serious thought to acquiring impact players who can help them win now.
“It’s not that they are where they were one offseason ago or two offseasons ago where you would look at their pick — which was obviously in the top half of the first round — and say, ‘You’re not trading that away for anything. You’ve got to do this thing the right way. You’ve got to build through the draft.’
“I do think they have some flexibility. They just have to be smart about how they use the resources they have at their disposal.”
Also in this episode of Patriots Talk:
- Mike Vrabel’s offseason approach.
- Eliot Wolf on whether the team is still in rebuilding mode.
- The future of Stefon Diggs and Christian Barmore
- Hints the Patriots will add on defense?
