Mike Tannenbaum Still Thinks Bucs Can Get Maxx Crosby
March 16th, 2026
Not over til it’s over.
Keep hope alive?
That’s the first thing that went through Joe’s head when he saw former Jets and Dolphins shot-caller Mike Tannenbaum suggest the Bucs can still make a deal for Raiders beastly edge rusher Maxx Crosby.
Last week, it appeared Crosby was headed to Baltimore but then at the last second, the Crows got cold feet claimed Crosby blew a physical and Crosby was shipped back to Las Vegas.
Joe has never been an NFL general manager, but Joe does play one on the internet. Tannenbaum was an NFL general manager for two teams.
Perhaps Tannenbaum, egged on by ADD-afflicted BSPN producers, is just throwing raw meat at the wolves here? Or perhaps he is sincere and is coming at this with a fair and open mind based on his years of front office experience? One year ago on BSPN, Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht revealed that Tannenbaum is a confidant of his.
Tannenbaum is still of the belief Crosby can be had in the wake of his trade to Baltimore blowing up.
This time, Tannenbaum does not believe any team will dangle two first-round picks in front of Raiders general manager John Spytek’s face. However, Tannenbaum believes if Spytek was looking to move Crosby once, he easily could be looking to move him again.
Tannenbaum thinks a Crosby trade is ideal for either the Bills or the Bucs. Here is what Tannenbaum proposes: The Bucs send two second-round picks to Las Vegas. One in next month’s draft and one in 2027. However, the 2027 second-round pick is conditional.
If, Tannenbaum said, Crosby balls out this fall, then that 2027 second-round pick turns into a first-round pick. Joe thinks this is very fair.
On the latest edition of the Ira Kaufman Podcast, Joe told Ira he’d still trade for Crosby: a first-round pick and a conditional second-round pick. So what Tannenbaum is proposing is very similar.
Joe has no idea if Crosby is still on the trade block. But Joe would rather bank on a guy who regularly has double-digit sacks than banking on a backup, Al-Quadin Muhammad, who never started a game last year, getting 11 sacks again. Last year was the first time he’s ever had more than six in a season.
.@RealTannenbaum outlines potential trade proposals for Maxx Crosby 🍿 pic.twitter.com/edx2s6r9XN
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 13, 2026
March 16th, 2026 at 3:58 am
Go get him Licht!
Seriously I doubt it though.
March 16th, 2026 at 4:47 am
Get him. If the Bucs do not generate a legit pass rush, 2026 will be rinse and repeat of 2025. And that = mediocre again.
Enough is enough, without a pass rush Todds Defense gets exposed. With a pass rush Todds defense pounded Mahome boy into mince meat and helped win a Super Bowl.
And here is 1 of the Joe’s favorite Al Davis quote.
Al Davis “In the first 5-10 plays, the QB must go down and go down hard”
I agree 1000%
GO BUCS!!!!!
March 16th, 2026 at 4:47 am
Joe think how U gonna feel if Mad Maxx is never the same player again, Bucs are paying him $30 million plus per season, and add insult to injury a young pass rusher in the draft the Bucs COULD have had goes somewhere else and turns out to be just as productive as Crosby USED TO BE???? It’s not that the comparison is between AQM vs Crosby it’s ALL the possibilities in addition WITH AQM add new blood vs Crosby and his huge salary !!STAY THE COURSE LICHT you’re due to FINALLY draft a big time Edge Rusher GO BUCS 🚩🏴☠️🚩‼️
March 16th, 2026 at 4:50 am
He’s not coming licht doesn’t like wasting his draft picks picks ##!!
March 16th, 2026 at 4:56 am
Bucs can not afford 2-2’s
This team is rebuilding in a organized manner, giving up draft picks for a old man is reckless and irresponsible.
NO
Now moving up in the draft at some point and giving up picks is another story…. Yeah blah blah blah about a proven player vs a rookie
This team is not one player away from anything!
March 16th, 2026 at 4:59 am
Why are some of you so hellbent on wasting resources for ONE player? Think! More sacks doesn’t equal wins, ask the Browns. Maxx is injury prone plus Bowles will have him in coverage on passing downs anyway. The Bucs aren’t a player away to overspend for a guy that won’t help the Bucs win and he’ll probably get injured again. The Bucs are already paying any injury prone QB, how’s that going?
March 16th, 2026 at 5:11 am
Hey they can save the resources and stay in a mediocre cycle, yeah great, NOT.
Time to actually be competitive again, instead of the slop of last year, and lifeless performance after lifeless performance.
They are so amazing right now, players are leaving to actually compete for a ring. Which right now is a distant foggy looking dream.
March 16th, 2026 at 5:31 am
Maxx Crosby would be fine, but the Bucs really need to acquire Jim Schwartz and make him DC
You can’t do one without the other as far as I am concerned!!!
March 16th, 2026 at 5:42 am
Who Dat!
March 16th, 2026 at 6:22 am
Bucs right now are ranked #31 in the NFL with slightly less than $1.0 mil of CAP space and still needing to pay Anzalone, Gainwell, Muhammad, Killebrew, Robinson, Kieft, Browning & Feeney. We don’t know the salary amounts of all those signings, but it’s probably in the neighborhood of $37-$38 mil for annual pay (CAP hit could be less in 2026 if that’s how Bucs choose to go). Plus our draft pool will cost us about $11.4 mil (current estimate) so that takes us up to needing to come up about $50 mil in CAP space to free up some significant CAP space to add those 8 FAs plus say 6 draft picks.
Bumping off the bottom 14 current players to accomodate the new/draft signings frees up about $14 mil but we’d still need to free up about another $40 mil of CAP space. We can do that by cutting players OR restructuring contracts. Looks to me like we have somewhat of a dilemma because restructuring usually means committing to keeping the player longer, and I’m not sure who other than Wirfs & Goedeke the Bucs really want to commit to long term.
March 16th, 2026 at 6:24 am
I have to admit the price would be a lot better. I think the real problem is that, as complex as it is, the rest of the NFL has simply figured out it’s rather obvious drawbacks. Besides, when you have one guy who happens to be highly injury prone commanding half your salary cap you’re already dancing on the head of a pin. I guess NFL contracts are so complicated that even AI can’t quite decipher their intricacies, I’m pretty sure there’s a ton of guaranteed money left on that deal. He would be worth a flyer if he were the last piece of the puzzle, but that defense is really gone to pot. Even if Crosby returns to form he would find himself in exactly the same position as he was in with the Raiders.
As an aside, I’ve noticed a fair share of draft “gurus”. Sending us a tight end at 15 or trading down. The tight end has some kind of Arab sounding name. I’d rather take a defender, but
March 16th, 2026 at 6:33 am
Trade AWJ, Braswell and a RD3 pick. Money is close. Winfield is a “Pro Bowler”. Spyrteck was big on Braswell when we drafted him. AWJ is one of the guys that got his bag a few years ago and stopped playing.
And now Spyteck is stuck with a big contract and a bunch of new FA’s that he has to pay.
March 16th, 2026 at 6:36 am
The price ain’t the same. He is now maybe worth a first round and a 5th
March 16th, 2026 at 6:40 am
“…a young pass rusher in the draft the Bucs COULD have had goes somewhere else and turns out to be just as productive as Crosby USED TO BE????”
– – – – – – – – – – – – –
Finding a Maxx Crosby in the draft is literally like finding the proverbial needle in the very big hay stack. Crosby was drafted in the 4th rd in 2019, he was the 106th selection, so he was passed over 105 times before the Raiders got very, very lucky. 1st rd picks are said to have, at BEST, a 50/50 shot to turn into just a good NFL player. This is backed up by the fact that less than 50% of 1st rd picks have their 5th year team option exercised. I wonder what the odds are that a 4th rd pick turns into an All Pro?
What the Bucs would get in this trade is a player at a HIGH need position. A position that is the 2nd most important for any NFL team just behind the QB. Crosby would make our entire defense look better bc he would get pressure on the QB giving him less time to pick apart our secondary. He is also excellent at stopping the run (unlike Hendrickson).
Ok, so the Bucs lose a 2nd round pick and a 1st next year. What is that? First, trading a pick that is in next year’s draft is considered to be one round lower in value for the present year, ie, if we gave up a 1st for next year it is like giving up the value of a 2nd rd in this years draft. So that would be the equivalent to trading two Morrisons.
Would I trade 2 Morrisons for Crosby? In a heart beat if Maxx is healthy.
March 16th, 2026 at 6:45 am
^^^ but I doubt Licht will consider it.
March 16th, 2026 at 7:17 am
Makes no sense. Joe, stick to wordsmithing.
March 16th, 2026 at 7:21 am
I’m just glad we’ve established “regularly” is 1/2 the time or 50%. Always wondered about that.
March 16th, 2026 at 7:41 am
Please, give it rest. Ain’t happening, and it shouldn’t
March 16th, 2026 at 7:46 am
Joe, you failed to mention that in his proposal, Tannenbaum said that the deal included “NO PHYSICAL.” It would be crazy not to give him a physical in light of Baltimore’s about face.
March 16th, 2026 at 7:47 am
Sounds fair. Hell, give em’ this years first and conditional 2nd next year
March 16th, 2026 at 7:53 am
DR, always the voice of reason. I believe the Bucs already restructured a couple of contracts (pls check me on that) to accommodate the previous signings. Signing Crosby could create a salary cap nightmare for future years. It is not the draft compensation , but the cap that is the issue. Folks, look at the entire situation 360, it just isn’t feasible.
March 16th, 2026 at 7:59 am
Give him a physical first. Then decide what to do.
March 16th, 2026 at 8:05 am
Unhealthy infatuation and I think our activity on the free agent market makes this a lot less likely.
March 16th, 2026 at 8:19 am
@ DR
I believe the Bucs just restructured Goedeke and ZM…
I wouldn’t mind trading Braswell and our 1st round pick for Crosby but you are correct the high salary could be an obstacle.
March 16th, 2026 at 8:23 am
@ DR
From the web:
“Yes, as of March 12, 2026, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers restructured the contracts of cornerback Zyon McCollum and offensive tackle Luke Goedeke to create approximately $26 million in 2026 salary cap space. These restructures converted roster bonuses into signing bonuses, spreading the cap hits across the remainder of their contracts to accommodate new free-agent signings.”
March 16th, 2026 at 8:25 am
The Ravens didn’t get cold feet, they looked closely at his MRI.
March 16th, 2026 at 8:31 am
If I were in charge of the Buccaneers I’d be thinking of Carl Nicks. Did he even play a down for the Bucs? The Saints were laughing for years that we didn’t catch the injury.
March 16th, 2026 at 8:52 am
All I know is for the last couple of weeks I have been researching the Edge Rushers, LBers, Tight Ends, and needs of the 13 team’s needs picking ahead of the Bucs(Raiders don’t count cause everybody knows they taking Mendosa)!! I’m convinced even if the Bucs don’t move up, stand firm at #15 THERE WILL BE a very good Edge Rushing prospect left still on the board so this upcoming 2026 draft LICHT’s future as the Bucs GM( including his staff) have to answer the bell and NAIL the best possible selection or more than ANYTHING ELSE the Glazers have to move on from Licht if he fails on this 1st round pick!!! NO DOUBT