Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Score caller thinks time is now for Bears to trade for Maxx Crosby

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris opened the phone lines for Score callers to share their thoughts on whether the Bears should attempt to acquire Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby in a trade.

Rahimi Harris and Grody. Bears, tight end. Cole Komet. Cole, welcome to the party, pal. Well, thanks for having me. I heard it was a big day. So naturally, I dropped everything I had going on today. You've complained a lot through the years about not being able to hear the score on the 670 a.m. dial when you're inevitably cruising around downtown. And now that we have an FM signal, Cole, you can now hear the score all day, all the time, all you want.

You can hear all the Bears hot takes you want. Well, that's perfect. I'll make sure I blast that in the locker room. Beautiful back! Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's Tyndall 2 on 104-3 The Score. 3-1-2-644-67. 67 is our number here on 104-3, The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody.

The Bears are now the favorites to land Max Crosby, according to Draft Kings. That number moved overnight. The Raiders aren't even the favorites to keep Max Crosby. The Bears are number one. The Raiders are number two. So let's go to our phones. And Anthony in Plainfield, Anthony, you're on the score.

Hey, guys, thanks for taking my call. Good morning to you. Yeah, so the Bears have finally accomplished something that we haven't seen here in decades, right? And that's the combo between quarterback and head coach. I think we could all agree. That's the most important step. From here, we now have a window of the two years, at least on the rookie deal, and then an extension moving forward.

You have to take advantage of the two years. And players like Max Crosby, not just the player, but the position and the top three at the position, don't grow on trees. They don't become available often. As far as the cap standpoint, you losing Edmonds, you're losing D.J. Moore, you're basically breaking even with bringing in Max Crosby as far as the dollars are concerned. after the 26th season, and I think one of the textures kind of hit on it earlier, those three big contracts on your D-line, Dio, Montes, White, Grady Jarrett, they combined, okay, for maybe $12 million in dead cap space, if they're to get released after the 26th season,

and you save roughly $50 million if the three of them are released. The cap problem is not an issue after this 26th season, and again, like I explained, you get rid of Edmonds and you get rid of more, you're basically where you're at now. And then you have the ability to restructure, well, there's a couple guys on the line or whatever to fill your holes. I don't know why you would not go for it right now. Like it's time to win.

If there's a season to do it, why would it not be now? Well, and I think that's the question, right? Anthony is trying to figure out is how much they would take it on the chin this year. I understand the 2027 numbers. It does get better. but the problem is he's here now, like he's available now. So how much can they move around now to make that happen? And you don't want to get stuck extending people who you don't want to extend.

And that's what makes this tricky too. No, I think that's a good point, Leila. 708 asks on the text line, how do you feel without a first rounder for two years? If I have Max Crosby, I feel just fine, especially when my picks should be in the late 20s or early 30s. So we got into this yesterday, Marshall. the fact that Ryan Poles said to Todd McShay that he has fewer players on his draft board than he's had in previous years.

And the problem with picking 25 is sometimes you've got to have like 10 or 15 players. You're okay with picking at that spot because you don't know who's going to be taken off the board ahead of you. So if you have fewer players, that would indicate that you have fewer players who you think might be available at that spot. And if you're good, then you don't care as much

about not having the two first round picks. I think from a fan-based standpoint, Khalil Mack showed you you're okay with not having two first-round picks. The problem was you weren't one player away with Khalil Mack. So then you actually needed those, but that was the price to get him. So that's why this is a challenge. And I think Ryan Poles believes that he thought he got his guys

when he decided to get Grady Jarrett and Dyer-Dangbo last year. So how much does he want to back off of those guys being his guys? guys. I think you need to figure out if those are his guys or are those Dennis Allen guys? And is it a, how much of a collab was there on saying these are the guys we're going to go out and get in the first year of Dennis Allen being the defensive coordinator? They have a much better idea now of what is needed on defense than they did a year ago, in my opinion. Well, and keep in mind, Ryan Poles his set. His mindset is to do both, win now, and then be able to sustain that and have the flexibility. It's not going to be easy. So he gets it more than

any of us. It's just a matter of us not knowing how to read his mind. And whether or not we believe in his ability to, as you said, 2027, you can cut guys, you can do all kinds of stuff. But can you draft and develop guys right now? With a lower pick, a remarkably little pick. The good news is it's a good year for rushers. It's a good year for edge rushers. It's a good year for defensive linemen. Better pick the right one. Better pick the right one. See, you look at me like that, but you know. But I, because I have some issues with how they've evaluated talent. Like, Jervon Dexter is a good example.

I understand he was a five-star recruit in high school. I understand what he did of Florida. But you wanted him to do something different than what he did at Florida. And I don't know that it necessarily turned out the way you wanted it. Traits. That's it. So that's where I'm always saying, well, I don't know how much I trust their draft board. Because if you're still of that mindset,

then the tape doesn't mean anything. we're just all just going to have to see and see if it works out like a movie? It's a tell-tale year. I'll say that for Ryan Poles and his crew. I mean, it's not necessarily for him. He got his extension. I think in terms of setting this team up to win in the next two years specifically on that Caleb Williams rookie deal, it's a tell-tale year.

These guys, whoever he picks, they have to have a similar type of impact on defense as what we just saw this previous class have on offense. I know we're laid to a break here, but I also want to point this out. The Cincinnati Inquirer is reporting that the Bengals, the Cincinnati Bengals, aka Bears 2. The Cincinnati Bengals are not expected to use the franchise tag on Trey Hendrickson. So that probably changes a lot of what teams may want to do as well. So that was from the Cincinnati Inquirer late yesterday.

Just in case you guys didn't know that, the deadline is this afternoon for the tag to be applied. So something to keep in mind. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, we're going to switch gears and talk about what's ahead for Major League Baseball. Evendrelic, the writer with the athletic, has been following this. We were not able to talk to him last week because there was a bunch of breaking news regarding Tony Clark and the Players Union. So we will talk to him about the status of this next season and what's ahead next.