Brady reportedly played key role in Raiders trading Crosby to Ravens

Former quarterback Tom Brady won six Super Bowls in 20 seasons with the New England Patriots. Now, he’s making decisions that could prevent them from hoisting another Lombardi Trophy. 

The Las Vegas Raiders have agreed to a trade that will send defensive end Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for two first-round picks when the new league year begins on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. The Patriots were reportedly interested in the five-time Pro Bowler, but Raiders minority owner Brady wasn’t going to let the star defender land in New England. 

What league insiders said about Tom Brady refusing to trade Maxx Crosby to Patriots

“No way Tom was sending Maxx to [Patriots head coach Mike] Vrabel,” a Raiders source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler for a story published Sunday.

It remains unclear whether the Patriots made an offer for Crosby. Fowler didn’t report any proposed trade packages from New England, but he noted the Raiders also fielded an offer from the Dallas Cowboys. Unlike Baltimore, Dallas wasn’t willing to deal two first-round picks for the DE and thus lost out on Crosby. 

Still, it’s surprising Brady was insistent that the Raiders not deal Crosby to his former team. The Ravens are also in the AFC, so if he worried about facing him again, trading him to an NFC team like the Cowboys would’ve made more sense. Each team from the respective conference plays an entire division from the opposing conference once every four years. The report only raises more questions about Brady’s relationship with the Patriots. 

There’s reason to believe Tom Brady’s relationship with Patriots is strained

Brady, a Fox analyst, picked the Seattle Seahawks to win Super Bowl LX instead of the Patriots and said he didn’t have a “dog in the fight.” That drew ire. Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane said Brady’s refusal to root for his former team in the big game made him feel “sick.”

Perhaps Brady was trying to be objective, and to his credit, he made the right choice. The Seahawks beat the Patriots 29-13 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Not engaging with New England in trade talks, however, seems personal.