Blockbuster Trade Atlanta Falcons and Raiders Should Consider

The Atlanta Falcons and Las Vegas Raiders find themselves heading in opposite directions after the first month of the season. The Falcons have won three-of-four and are sitting 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 head coach Antonio Pierce speaking of "business decisions".

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

The inability to get to the quarterback is going to haunt this team when the stakes and competition escalate... think playoff quarterbacks with all day to throw.

The Raiders are in need of a reboot. Star wide receiver Davante Adams is on the verge of forcing his way out of Las Vegas, and he might not be the last to go.

On Wednesday's Falcons Podcast, Nick Kendell and I started running through pass rushers around the NFL who could be available at the trade deadline. Trey Hendrickson's name came up as the Cincinnati Bengals are suffering through a 1-4 start to the season.

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Nick came around to Raiders and the turmoil they're experiencing and mentioned four-time All-Pro Maxx Crosby. It's Adams who has been making all the noise, but what if Crosby pushes for a trade as well. The Raiders may deem him untouchable, but things can change between now and the Nov. 5th trade deadline.

The mention of Crosby kicked off a bigger conversation. What would a front four of Matt Judon, Grady Jarrett, David Onyemata, and Maxx Crosby do for the Falcons' Super Bowl chances? No doubt It would put them in the conversation with the favorites around the NFC. It doesn't necessarily make them favorites, but they're legitimately in the conversation.

The second part of the conversation turned to what it might cost to get him. A 2025 and 2026 first round pick for the just-turned 27-year old Crosby?

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

A quarterback.

Leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, most pundits had J.J. McCarthy to the Minnesota Vikings, Bo Nix to the Denver Broncos, and Michael Penix Jr. to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Atlanta Falcons threw the first sweeping-curve ball of the draft when they took Penix with the No. 8 overall pick. McCarthy and Nix went to the Vikings and Broncos as expected, and the Raiders drafted Georgia Bulldogs tight end Brock Bowers, who thus far looks like everything he was cracked up to be.

The Falcons spent the next-two months defending the pick of Penix, having just signed Kirk Cousins to a 4-year, $180-million contract. For that reason alone, I don't think they'd ever make the move. But with the MLB Playoffs taking place, a swing-for-the fences move by the Atlanta Falcons --- Michael Penix Jr. for Maxx Crosby.

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

The most die-hard of Falcons fans have taken the administration's words hook-line and sinker and have convinced themselves 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'd have the opportunity to draft a player of his caliber in the next few years.

There are four games until the trade deadline. What if Atlanta goes 3-1 and is sitting at 6-3 on November 4th having beaten NFC rivals like the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks with a trip to New Orleans on deck?

Is that team with Maxx Crosby a Super Bowl contender? How often has that opportunity come around for the Atlanta Falcons?

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

But let's remove emotion from the equation for just a moment. Flash 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 have 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 never would have made that trade.

Fast forward roughly six months and what's changed? The perceived value of Michael Penix Jr. has probably gone up. It certainly has in Atlanta based on talk, not play, because Falcons are trying to age Penix like a fine wine behind Kirk Cousins. He only had 16 pass attempts in 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 they have little long-term faith in either player.

They don't want to give up Crosby, but what if on November 4th, they're sitting at 2-6 and Davante Adams is a Baltimore Raven? Could Crosby agitate for a move?

Make no mistake, the only way Crosby leaves Vegas is because he forces his way out of town like Adams, maybe just not as publicly.

The Raiders reportedly liked Michael Penix Jr. a lot in the draft. They have an asset who could want to leave and would facilitate a rebuild in a trade. As good as Maxx Crosby is, the prospect of seeing Michael Penix in the silver and black instead of rolling O'Connell or Minshew back out there would be tantalizing.

The Falcons are highly unlikely to backtrack, and moving Penix after hunkering down in a bunker this summer seems improbable at best, but adding Crosby to your team for your backup quarterback?

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

Should it?

At least pick up the phone between now and the Nov. 5th trade deadline.