Blockbuster Trade Atlanta Falcons and Las Vegas Raiders Should Consider

The Atlanta Falcons and Las Vegas Raiders are heading in opposite directions after the first month of the season. The Falcons have won three of four and are in first place in the NFC South. The Raiders have lost two of three, including an embarrassing home loss to the Carolina Panthers that had coach Antonio Pierce talking about “business decisions.”

Despite their early success, the Falcons have a clear weakness on defense – the pass rush. The Falcons are last in the NFL with five sacks. They are on pace for just 17 after recording 42 a year ago. Only the Carolina Panthers have fewer quarterback pressures (21 vs. 25) and a worse pressure rate (13.1 vs. 14.4%) of teams that have played five games this season.

The inability to get to the quarterback will haunt this team as the stakes and competition rise… think of playoff quarterbacks with all day to play.

The Raiders need a reset. Wide receiver Davante Adams is about to force his way out of Las Vegas and he might not be the last to leave.

On Wednesday’s Falcons Podcast, Nick Kendell and I began analyzing the NFL pass rushers who could be available at the trade deadline. Trey Hendrickson’s name came up at a time when the Cincinnati Bengals were reeling from a 1-4 start to the season.

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Nick talked about the Raiders and the turmoil they are facing and mentioned four-time All-Pro Maxx Crosby. It’s Adams who’s been making all the noise, but what if Crosby also pushes for a trade? The Raiders may consider him untouchable, but things could change by the Nov. 5 trade deadline.

The mention of Crosby started a larger conversation. What would a top four of Matt Judon, Grady Jarrett, David Onyemata and Maxx Crosby do for the Falcons’ Super Bowl chances? This would undoubtedly put them in the conversation with the NFC favorites. That doesn’t necessarily make them favorites, but they are legitimately in the conversation.

The second part of the conversation revolved around how much it would cost to win him over. A 2025 and 2026 first-round pick for Crosby, who just turned 27?

But what do the Raiders really want? What do the Raiders really need?

A defender.

Before the 2024 NFL Draft, most experts had JJ McCarthy going to the Minnesota Vikings, Bo Nix going to the Denver Broncos, and Michael Penix Jr. going to the Minnesota Vikings.

The Atlanta Falcons threw the draft’s first curveball by taking Penix with the eighth overall pick. McCarthy and Nix went to the Vikings and Broncos as expected, and the Raiders drafted tight end Brock Bowers from the Georgia Bulldogs, who so far looks like everything he hoped to be.

The Falcons spent the next two months defending the Penix pick, having just signed Kirk Cousins ​​to a 4-year, $180 million contract. For that reason alone, I don’t think they would ever make that change. But with the MLB Playoffs underway, a move by the Atlanta Falcons — Michael Penix Jr. for Maxx Crosby.

Would either team make such a deal? As mentioned, general manager Terry Fontenot and the Falcons have spent so much time defending the pick that it seems almost impossible that they wouldn’t want to see their vision come to fruition so they can celebrate Penix’s success in 2027 or 2028, or longer, as Fontenot immediately suggested. after draft.

Die-hard Falcons fans took the government’s words hook and sinker and became convinced that Penix is ​​the next Steve Young and wouldn’t trade him for anything.

The Falcons said they didn’t want to find themselves in quarterback purgatory again and didn’t think they would have the opportunity to sign a player of his caliber in the next few years.

There are four games left until the trade deadline. What if Atlanta goes 3-1 and is 6-3 on Nov. 4 after defeating NFC rivals like the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks with a trip to New Orleans on deck?

Is this team with Maxx Crosby a Super Bowl contender? How many times have what Did an opportunity arise for the Atlanta Falcons?

The Raiders may think they have a better chance to fail this year and land a better quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft without having to give up one of the most valuable assets in all of football, a 27-year-old All-Pro pass rusher. rusher.

But let’s remove emotion from the equation for a moment. Let’s go back to draft night with the Atlanta Falcons on the clock, and commissioner Roger Goodell steps up to the microphone: “We have a trade to announce, the Atlanta Falcons traded the No. 8 pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for edge rusher Maxx Crosby.”

Pandemonium.

The Atlanta Falcons just won the draft. The Raiders would never have made that trade.

Fast forward about six months and what has changed? Michael Penix Jr.’s perceived value has likely increased. It certainly happened in Atlanta based on the talk, not the game, because the Falcons are trying to age Penix like a fine wine behind Kirk Cousins. He only had 16 pass attempts in the preseason.

After five games, Kirk Cousins ​​is coming off a franchise-record passing game, and the defense is almost historically bad at getting to the quarterback.

The Raiders are 2-3 and appear to be going backwards. They benched quarterback Gardner Minshew in favor of Aiden O’Connell and have little faith in either player long-term.

They don’t want to give up on Crosby, but what if on November 4th they are 2-6 and Davante Adams is a Baltimore Raven? Could Crosby agitate for a change?

Make no mistake, the only way Crosby will leave Las Vegas is to force his way out of town like Adams, perhaps not as publicly.

The Raiders reportedly really liked Michael Penix Jr. in the draft. They have an asset that might want out and would make it easier to rebuild a trade. As good as Maxx Crosby is, the prospect of seeing Michael Penix in silver and black instead of bringing O’Connell or Minshew back would be tempting.

It’s highly unlikely the Falcons will back down, and moving Penix after hunkering down in a bunker this summer seems unlikely at best, but adding Crosby to your team as a backup quarterback?

Will a movement like this happen? No, it won’t, for all the reasons mentioned.

It should?

At least pick up the phone by the November 5th trade deadline.

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