Raiders' Updated Salary Cap After Maxx Crosby's Contract, Gardner Minshew's Release

Shut down any trade rumors about Maxx Crosby because the four-time Pro Bowler has signed a massive contract extension with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Crosby will become the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL after agreeing to a three-year, $106.5 million deal with $91.5 million guaranteed to stay in Las Vegas.

The Raiders have been busy on this Wednesday, with NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reporting earlier in the day that Gardner Minshew II will be released before the start of the new league year on March 12.

While it's unclear at this point what the cap implications are for Crosby's new deal because the structure has not yet been made available, the Raiders were sitting at $95.4 million in cap space. Minshew's release, when it becomes official, will clear $6.3 million to bring the total up to $101.7 million.

The Raiders had the second-most cap space in the NFL even before the Minshew news, so they always seemed likely to be among the most active teams in spending when free agency began.

Crosby's extension allows the Raiders to keep their best player happy. Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap did note the structure "will be telling" since Crosby had two years remaining on his previous contract, giving the team "all kinds of ways" to give off the appearance of a huge annual salary even with some funny money baked in.

Crosby's average annual salary now sits at $35.5 million, surpassing Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson ($35 million) as the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

This deal is also extremely relevant to Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett, who are two of the few EDGE rushers with a reasonable argument that they are better than Crosby.

Per ESPN's pass-rush win rate, Parsons ranked third among all EDGE players in the NFL (23 percent) and Garrett was sixth (22 percent) last season. Crosby was ninth at 20 percent, but he's also an elite run defender with a 37 percent run-stop win rate that ranked second among all EDGEs. Neither Parsons nor Garrett made the top 10 in 2024.

Parsons would seem likely to sign an extension with the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. He's entering the final season of his rookie contract and recently opened contract talks with the team, per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.

It would be a huge upset if Parsons' eventual deal didn't make him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. He could also end up being the highest-paid non-quarterback, but the timing could determine that since the Cincinnati Bengals have already said they intend to make Ja'Marr Chase the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL.

Garrett could have some difficulty in matching the total value of Crosby's deal because he's two years older, but his annual salary could end up in the same vicinity.

Of course, the question for Garrett is which team might be paying him on a new deal. He still has two years remaining on his five-year, $125 million contract signed in 2020.

Even though the Cleveland Browns would like to work out a new deal to keep their star pass-rusher happy, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported on Feb. 27 that Garrett is "not open" to an extension amid his trade request.

The Raiders' offseason has to be about finding foundation players they can build around. They currently only have two obvious candidates in Crosby and Brock Bowers.

There's plenty of cap space remaining, even after Crosby's extension, for the Raiders to improve their roster. They just have to hit on some free agents and draft picks to make it happen.