The Falcons have to swing a trade for a pass rusher; it’s that simple.
The club boasts the worst pass rush in football, owning a league-low five sacks. It’s also not like the Falcons are getting pressure and are just unable to convert those pressures into sacks. They’ve recorded the 29th fewest pressures in the league thus far.
John Abraham isn’t walking through the doors of Flowery Branch. Expecting anyone in-house — Arnold Ebiketie, Lorenzo Carter, etc. — to suddenly become a premier pass rusher is asinine. The fact is, if the Falcons want to improve in that area, they’re going to have to pour resources into it.
Haason Reddick is the most readily available pass rusher, but he might not be the only one. A Maxx Crosby trade could potentially be on the table for the Falcons. The Raiders have already traded Davante Adams, and according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, a team has already reached out to Las Vegas and floated a first-round pick as possible compensation.
“I believe earlier in the year there might’ve been a team that asked the team about Maxx Crosby and might’ve floated a one,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show. “I think they said, ‘Yeah, you start with multiple ones on that guy and even then we wouldn’t even entertain it.’”
One first-round pick won’t be close to the kind of compensation that it would take to get the conversation started. That’s if the Raiders would even entertain trading the face of their franchise.
In 2018, the Raiders traded Khalil Mack to the Bears for two first-round picks. That would be the floor for a potential Maxx Crosby trade. To pique the Raiders’ interest, the Falcons would likely have to part ways with multiple first-round picks, second/third-rounders, etc.
That may seem a bit rich, but I don’t think so. He’s posted 14.5 and 12.5 sacks in the last two seasons, respectively. Crosby already has 5.5 through six games this season, and if you’re counting at home, that’s more than the Falcons have as a team. He’s also only 27 years old.
If you’re the Falcons, the situation seems perfect. You’ve got Kirk Cousins, the quarterback of the present, and Michael Penix Jr., the quarterback of the future, so there’s no reason to hoard draft capital for a potential blockbuster move for a signal caller. Moreover, they’ve shown no ability to draft pass rushers, either.
Of course, this is all assuming the Raiders even entertain a Maxx Crosby trade. From his comments, it seems Crosby certainly isn’t demanding one.
“We’re not going to make excuses,” Crosby said, via The Athletic. “We have the people in the building to get it done. … You can fall into the crowd and be like everyone else and be negative and sad, but I am blessed to play this game. It doesn’t stop me.
“The outside world is going to try and find everything to bring us down, and rightfully so after a game like that. It’s [expletive]. We have to stay together and find ways to get better and find that spark.”
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Photographer: Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire
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