Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Should Bears pursue Maxx Crosby after the report that he's done with Raiders?

Episode Date: February 9, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote were joined by Score football analyst Anthony Herron, who shared his concern with the Bears potentially acquiring Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby in a trade.

Rahimi Harrison Grody The great Kevin Harlan I just pulled through the Taco Bell Drive-thru and I've got a couple of big nasty Supreme Burritos right here waiting to beat. You know the first thing they ask you now are you using the app.

The app, no, I just want my burrito. I don't want to use an app. Bring a lot of mild sauce because I'm going to squirt it all over the plate. Put some hot sauce on my burrito, baby. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody.

on 104-3 the score, and we continue our conversation with Anthony Heron. Anthony Heron is, of course, a score co-host with us, former NFL defensive player. He also works for Big Ten Network. Fox 32 was on NBC5 last night. We're happy to have him on here. And we were talking about some of the defensive strategy that was used as well. Ernest Jones had a lot of really good information that he said after the game. I thought one of the biggest takeaways I had was him saying,

we weren't going to devote an extra man to Drake May's running threat that as part of the Seahawks plan they were just going to go with what they usually do when it comes to their defensive plan. We know it changed a little because of Devin Witherspoon, for example, blitzing more.

But what do you think about that aspect of it? That they were like, all right, Drake May, run on us if you want, but it's not going to go very far. And that's the thing that surprised me. And I wonder, as Josh McDaniels looks back at it, as Mike Vrable looks back at it if they said, yeah, we could have allowed that to take pressure off of Drake May.

He doesn't have to run for 120 yards for that to be an effective way to now be a counterbalance to that Seahawks defense because Seattle dictated terms that entire game, aside from one chunk play, a big 35-yard touchdown pass that Drake May completed. Aside from that, that one Mack Hollins play, the entire game was Seattle. Seattle's defense dictating terms to New England's offense. Now, conversely, New England's defense played it really well, but there were still drives where Seattle, Sam Donald, Kenneth Walker III, were able to move the football.

They're settling for field goals. So you could tell just the way the game was still in the balance, there was going to need to be some sort of a schematic counterpunch that New England could come up with. And it just really shocks me that the legs of Drake May weren't attempted more consistently to become that. for them. It was, all right, we're going to let him drop back

and another predictable down and distance. Oh, well, too bad. Pass rush got home again or too bad, another errant pass from Drake. But when his legs are part of the formula for them, not only does it infuse some additional life and confidence in New England's offense because they have the ability to move the chains more consistently,

but it can take the starch out of that pass rush. Because there's one thing to say schematically, we weren't going to over-adjust, We weren't going to have an extra defender occupied for the legs of Drake May. But when you're talking about rushing the edge, all right, DeMarcus Lawrence, you can go ahead and keep flying up the field if you want to, but you're creating a running lane for the QB now. And if Drake May begins to gash them with QB power, QB draw, QB lead,

QB sweep even, he's fast enough for that, but just some sort of consistent wrinkle in the run game using him as a runner, that to me would have been a – I'll say this. Lamar Jackson, playoff games that he's lost as he's advanced into the NFL postseason. The main issue that's been for him has been when they haven't allowed, when Baltimore hasn't made a concerted effort to keep his legs as a part of what keeps that opposing defense off balance. If that can be your superpower, especially if you're still young enough to feature it,

let that be your superpower against a fast and aggressive and quickly flowing defense like Seattle presents. Aunt Haren joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. And speaking of Pass Rush, the latest from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Apparently, Max Crosby says he's done with the Las Vegas Raiders. He's referring to a report by Jason Lockhamforra of Sportsboom.com in which an unnamed GM told Lockenforra, quote, he told Tom Brady he will never play for the Raiders again. That's a fact. He told them he'll retire before he ever plays for.

for them again, but I'm not sure they're actually going to trade him. Miles Garrett said the same thing last year, and we know how that ended up, end quote. And what's your reaction to this idea that Max Crosby's done with the Raiders? And should that have the bears poking around and trying to really get a plan together to make a trade for Max Crosby? I'm impressed that Max Crosby was able to look into Tom Brady's wee, be little eyes and telling me what's going to play for him anymore. A lot of folks might find that imposing or intimidating. Might have been a text. Yes, maybe it was that.

Dreaming. Maybe that's exactly what it did. Just sent him like a voice text or something like that. All right, Tom, here's a deal, man. I'm not going to come see you, but here's exactly what's going on. But Max Crosby is 28 years old. So from a health perspective, the menisical repair that he's going through, when you remove meniscus, you recover more quickly,

but the long-term health of the joint, in this case of the knee, isn't viewed as something that's going to be, you know, sustain itself as well. You get it repaired. The recovery is longer. That's the good thing where you're getting this done over the off season. Now the few months it'll take. He'll still be Max Crosby again. At the age he's at right now.

So he'll step into whatever locker room he steps into over the off season or next training camp or whenever that takes place. And he'll be one of the top pass rushers, one of the top defensive ends in the sport. From a bear's perspective, do they have the capital? available. Do they have the not only Capspace but personnel available? Just almost similar to a Bulls conversation.

What do they have to go get Janus? Is it available to them? What do the bears have to go get Max Crosby? They do have the second round picks me more in the NFL just to point that out. John Greiber doesn't understand that though by the way. But the issue

is what they've already invested into the defensive front. That's a huge factor within this because you've gone really big in the Montez sweat. You've gone fairly heavy, into Grady Jarrett, in the Diya-Dang Bowl. You've got a position group and you

yeah, you should continue to put draft capital into it as well because that's a continued investment. But they have also done that pretty consistently also. They just haven't had any of these draft picks hit at a really high level. So that to me is my concern. Is how much of your cap space

by percentage can you continue to invest in the defensive front to go get someone like Max Crosby who will come in here and will he be looking for a new deal? Maybe not a new deal, but he is going to be a guy who comes in and the amount of financial wherewithal that you would now have invested into the D-line to me seems like it's, it negates that potential. Whether you're talking Max Crosby or even when Miles Garrett was demanding a trade, there's certain names that have a dollar value that to me is likely beyond where the bears can go

with their current D-line situation. Yeah, I mean, you're probably. right. And yeah, he's like 28 years old as Max Crosby. He's like that. That's what, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven years. There's like, okay, that's it. Now I got to get out of here. Because he did put up with it for a while. A lot of foolishness. He really did. And then he got so, see what sobriety does, folks? You get sober and you're like, oh my God, there's so many things that can be so much better. That's right. That's right. That's right. Exactly. You can be better. And I think that that's part of what's going. Am I missing something? Like, I don't, I don't know. I'd be excited for Max Crosby to show up here and be a member of the Bears. You're not missing any. You're not willing to do the accounting is what it sounds like.

It's really tough. I mean, but it seemed inconceivable when Khalil Mack came here as well. So anything is possible. But you're right. You'd have to make some pretty tough decisions, Anthony. They didn't already have one of the highest paid defensive linemen in the league on their roster in that meeting room when they went and got Khalil Mack.

That's the difference. They already have Montess Sweat as one of the highest paid defensive linemen in the sport. Dio Dengbo isn't too, like he's off that pace. but he's also a really highly compensated defensive linemen they have in here. It's one thing to have a bunch of first round picks and not be able to keep them all when it's time to pay. They got guys in that D-line meeting room already that have gotten that bag, that have gotten to that second or third contract already at this stage in their career. There's a sizable chunk of the bear's salary cap and draft capital that's already invested into the D-line.

So it's not just about this season's cap number. it's about that one position group, how much of it can you allow the defensive line to take up to add one more player? And how big of a difference does Max Crowley make to that defensive front? He will certainly make a difference anywhere he goes, but I'd be curious to see.

I don't know if it's Greenberg or Biggs or Fishing Business, somebody put that number together, and I would love to kind of read how that shapes up. How much of the Bears cap and draft capital already is eaten up by this D-line that has definitely underperformed, but now they're in this tricky spot. because you can't just go out and get anybody else that you want to because the money's available

because then what do you do at additional depth at running back? What do you do if the wide receiver room looks different because maybe you move on from DJ Moore and you got something else that's happening there? What do you do with all these defensive backs that you have to either sign or let walk? What's happening at lineback? There's a lot that the bears have to figure out with the roster to continue to bolster it. And oh, by the way, you don't have a left tackle. So there's a lot to bears have to figure out with the roster.

and there's already so much tied up in the D-Line room. And also one of the questions that we had that was Bears Adjacent for this is with everybody comparing Caleb Williams to Drake May because they're in the same rookie class and now that Drake May made it to the Super Bowl, I asked the question, and I think we're going to do this later in our show at about 1225 or so. But I don't think Caleb Williams would have fared as poorly

as Drake May did last night. I agree. I do. And, you know, it's obviously kind of gauging it off of just what we saw late in the regular season and in the postseason. Because for the majority of the regular season, Drake May was a more consistent quarterback than Caleb. The splash plays, the wild moments were advantage, Caleb, virtually the entire year. But as far as just the consistency of moving the offense and completing the chunk pass play, Drake May was better than Caleb at those things throughout the majority of the year.

but that finishing kick that we saw from Caleb, not only in the fourth quarters of games, but really the month of December leading into the postseason, at one point late in the year when Marshall posed me the quest. I've had some friends like circling back on this with me even since then. It was like I think one of the last games of November, maybe even the first game of December when I was on with you guys here in middays. And Marshall asked me the question about Caleb's accuracy

and whether or not Caleb's accuracy would really make much of an improvement throughout the rest of the year. And my answer to that was probably not. You probably got to get into the offseason. I don't see a regular season formula that likely leads to Caleb becoming a more consistently accurate quarterback. Lo and behold, it actually been when the weather got awful. That's really where Caleb's accuracy was most consistent and at its most impressive.

I don't completely understand why, aside from the fact that we got to a point in the year, where Caleb had full mastery of what Ben Johnson was presented. within the offensive playbook at that point. So he began playing ahead of the snap, ahead of the opposing defense and delivered the ball with more comfort, more composure, more control, and more consistency. So that comparison with Drake May and Caleb Williams

in December and January, and what we saw from this bear's offense as a whole, now if you're putting Caleb on that Patriots offense, that might be a different story. But the Bears' offense led by Caleb Williams in the Super Bowl against Seattle, against that New England offense led by Drake May and Josh McDaniels calling plays, then yeah, I'd take Caleb in the Bears' offense.

I think they would have done more against Seattle. And what's great about that, Ant, is that I looked at the weather as the restrictor play. You had a much better answer than when I was like, oh, well, the weather's tamping him down. That's why now he's more accurate because he can't, he's got the weather, the wind, you know, putting a little on those rockets that he tends to throw. But really, when you think about it, the catchable passes, the runner's ball, They were a lot more consistent examples of those when it was 30 below and 40-mile-an-hour wins.

That was honestly when Caleb looked at his most composed passing the football. That was really where his game and the comfort and control he showed on his game as a quarterback in the traditional sense. He looked at his best and his most consistent in those moments. Even the interceptions in those last couple of playoff games, you're talking fourth down passes, you're talking situations where he's deletion. delivering it with anticipation, anticipating the route to break in a certain way. So, you know, those are sort of explanations that will feel, to me, less acceptable next season.

Because, yeah, turnover is a turnover and you should be on the same page and everything else. But in this first season in Ben Johnson's offense, watching the growth, the trajectory that Caleb presented as a passer of the football, an anticipatory passer of the football, when the weather was at its worst, is really when we saw him make the biggest leaps for how consistent. he just got the rock out of his hands on time in rhythm with comfort and just throwing a very comfy ball to catch. So I was really encouraged by that at the end of the season. And it's why it never made sense, Marshall, that you were Caleb over everything. Because, yes, Caleb got good.

It got really good by the end of the season. But the Bears as a team is why they advanced through a couple of playoff rounds. But without Caleb's play, they don't get that far. Okay, we'll revisit this down the road, as we always do it. Yes, we'll have a great time when we do it. And thanks for joining us. This has been a lot of fun this football season. Yeah, no doubt.

Appreciate y'all. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks so much, Ann. That's Anthony Heron. You can hear him with us on 670 the score often. And he's out and about in the football streets doing a lot of work. You never know a TV station. He's going to pop up on either.

Yeah. Yeah. Wait, what did I do? Everybody wants him. He's a hot commodity. And he knows it too. He's like, yeah, darn right. It was on with Lou Connellis last night.

Uh-huh. He's like, wherever the action is, that's where you can find me. Right, right, right. I mean, rather than speaking for him, we could have just had to answer the question. No, I think he did. He talked about the fact he went and visited Lou after the show. Yeah, he's been on a couple times. Yeah.

Coming up next year, I'm Rahimi Harris and Grotie. We want to devote halftime to talking about halftime. A novel concept. But I think we should try it for once. I'm all for it. I'm pro. Super Bowl halftime thoughts next.