Cowboys Eye Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez After Combine Surge and Pro Day Buzz
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer will attend Texas Tech Pro Day as linebacker Jacob Rodriguez's NFL Draft stock surges.
Video Transcript
Max Crosby is messy in more ways than one.
I'm Mike Fisher, reporting from the home of the Dallas Cowboys here in Frisco, Texas.
happy holidays to you and yours, and thank you for joining us in this final week of the Cowboys' regular season.
But of course, not at all the final week of our Cowboy coverage, which has been going on for thirty-six years, and as far as I'm concerned, will go on forever.
Get in, get on, be good.
On the subject of the morning, we'll have a, notebook this afternoon, Fish at Six, a notebook from, inside the star and around the NFL.
But for now, let's talk about messy Max Crosby.
Michael Irvin used to say this to me all the time, and it took me a minute to figure out what he meant.
when he got into his behavioral problems, that's when I r-really realized it.
Irvin used to say, "Fish, your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness."
And I, I thought, and I thought, and, and, and then, then I got it.
And as it relates to Max Crosby, I definitely get it.
The incredibly high motor star of the Raiders, chasing down quarterbacks and everybody else, driven by talent and effort and passion.
So last March, March twenty twenty-five, those three traits earned him a new contract extension, three years, a hundred and six point five million dollars.
But those traits now have him in the news for a more controversial reason, and that's where your Cowboys come in.
A, a reminder to come hang out with us at cowboysroundtable.com and an incentive to do so.
In the coming days, we're giving away the Dak Prescott bobblehead.
MVP level stats kind of for Dak Prescott, one of the great lightning rods in all of the NFL and all of sports.
If you're a Dak guy or gal, I'm gonna give you a bobblehead.
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So there's the Dak Prescott bobblehead, and we'll give that away in the coming days.
So cowboysroundtable.com, hit the Join button, and away we go.
Max's traits, passion, just got him in a controversy.
Pete Carroll announces on Friday in Las Vegas, that they're gonna not play Max Sunday, yesterday, against the Giants, who, by the way, don't seem to understand the value of organic tanking for the second straight year.
Straight dope, no bullsh.
Crosby's reaction on Friday, he angrily left the building.
And as of Sunday, according to Jay Glazer, who knows him personally, he's still mad.
Now, how long does he stay mad?
Cowboy fan sixty-five.
Is the real problem along around here a front office problem or a player problem?
And the answer is yes.
Max Crosby angrily leaves the building, maybe for good.
The Raiders' intentions here are obvious.
It's obvious what they were trying to do.
And, i-in that weekend, in this last weekend, they put, like, four guys on-- they moved four guys to IR.
Four guys that if they were playing for a Super Bowl would have played yesterday.
Crosby is ailing.
He's got a bum knee, and now he's gonna have s- a cleanup surgery on it.
But it's, it's the same bum knee that he's been playing with since week seven.
He's fine, so that's not an issue.
He participated every week and played, as always, at a very high level.
Cowboys, and the draft pick position, and we'll update more of this as we, as we work through the day, but I think right now they're fifteen and twenty-one.
Vegas, Las Vegas, has a real good chance at the number one spot in the tankathon, so as far as I'm concerned, they did the right thing.
They didn't need-- They, they, they wouldn't have achieved anything by having Ma- Max Crosby play in that game.
Organic tanking is what we call it around here.
Yeah, Brock Bowers, Jeremy Chin, Max Crosby, you guys, we'll, we'll, we'll see you, we'll see you next month.
Crosby not comfortable with the concept of organic tanking, and that's fine.
y-you actually like that.
Same thing with Dak.
I'm, I'm glad he wants to play.
Rambo, is he close to some sort of roster bonus?
No, because, you can pay that.
The team-- I-if that was a factor, the team can opt to pay that.
So that is not an issue here.
Ten sacks, his fifth Pro Bowl, fifth consecutive Pro Bowl, and he was asked about the benefits of tanking last week, and he said, "I don't give a bleep about that."
Straight talk about straight dope, no bleep.
"I don't, I don't care about the pick.
I don't play for that.
My job is to be the best defensive end in the world.
That's their job.
It's got nothing to do with me."
Well, they did their job, and now maybe he wants nothing to do with them.
Wishful thinking here, of course, but let's walk through it.
Remember that before the trade deadline that ended up bringing Quinnen Williams here, the Cowboys did eventually get around to calling the Raiders, and we're told nah.
What if the Cowboys call again?So here's Fish's five.
Here's five things I know, and we'll discuss this with you over the course of this morning with a request once again to go hang out at cowboysroundtable.com.
Number one, what's Max want?
A trade of Max Crosby by the Raiders to anywhere, including the Cowboys, would have to be fueled in part by Max saying, "Get me out of here, you losers."
Given their stance at the deadline, a trade of Max Crosby won't be the Raiders' idea, but it can be his idea.
He is upset right now.
How long does he stay that way?
Item two, how much ammunition do you have, and how much does it take?
Cowboys had the assets in October.
They have the assets now.
As you know, they own that pair of f- first round picks 15 and 21 right now.
Back then, ESPN, analyst Mike Tannenbaum, former NFL general manager, said that he believed that you could get Max Crosby back in October for a second and a fourth.
And I said at the time, "I know you're a general manager, and I'm just a broken-down old sports writer.
That's not even close."
There's no way that they're giving up a franchise player in his prime who they just gave a $100 million contract to for a second and a fourth.
He's gotta be way off.
How about one first rounder?
How about a first rounder and a player?
How about a first rounder and a good young player?
Again, this is, this is my speculation.
I'm not giving up two first round picks.
I'm not.
But there's only one way for Jerry's Cowboys to find the answers to what the Raiders might want, and that is to poke around over there.
But the ammo is available.
Item three, can they, quote, "afford him"?
a constant reminder around here that I'm pleased to present, the idea that the Cowboys can't afford another star is a bogus one.
There's almost no such thing.
They are already invested heavily in Quinnen and Kenny and Osa.
Those three guys in the defensive line all be $20 million guys.
Y- you hear this a lot.
Let's I- if, if you F- first of all, you hear it about those three guys.
"That's too much to invest in one position group."
Why?
I just want good players.
I just want great players.
If I have two great safeties, that's good.
If I have two great guards, that's good.
If I have two great wide receivers, that's good.
And VJ get, VJ gets it.
There's no such thing as too many great players.
And the Cowboys are paying guys, Quinnen, Kenny, Osa, Dak, CeeDee, Tyler Smith, DaRon Bland, soon enough George Pickens.
But it just so happens that Max's $106.5 million deal has all sorts of flexibility built into it.
My buddy Joey Ives points out that the structure of that deal for the Raiders means if they deal him, they actually get $19 million of room this year and $30 million of room next year.
It's beneficial financially for them to trade him.
They would not get kicked in the gortox, so they can afford to move him.
And what about the buyer?
What would Dallas have to spend here?
And again, this is Dallas or anybody else.
Yes, the Eagles too.
Crosby's 28.
Cap number of 35.8 million for 2026.
Seems like a lot.
About the same that you pay CeeDee Lamb.
But after next year, his guarantees end, and there's three more contractual years that average 28 million.
So you can look at him like he's a $28 million guy, and to that number, I say, "Where do I sign up?"
Quiet.
How does giving up all the assets solve our issues at corner?
Yeah, I don't wanna give up two first round picks.
I can have $110 million in cap room to go buy a cornerback, and if we're talking about complementary football, a superstar pass rush defensive end actually does help your cornerback play.
Josh Jones.
How about offering a one, a future two, and a player?
I'd do that.
Future two in a way is worth If you look at the Jimmie Johnson/Mike McCoy trade value chart and, and the way it's kinda grown its branches, a future two is kinda like a three now, so that would be the equivalent of giving up a one and a three.
I'd do that.
What about the trade cost?
What about the financial cost?
The trade cost, we don't know.
We're only speculating.
The financial cost, I'm telling you, it's not a problem.
Item four, does he feel a need?
And yeah, a couple of you guys are pointing out, i- including Adam, thank you, I haven't seen it, but I have heard that he's trying to establish, "Guys, my knee's not that bad," and he posted a video of him a- and the kids on the trampoline.
He- he's been playing with this same knee deal.
It's a cleanup.
It's a non-issue.
Same thing that, Th- there'll be 10 Cowboys that go get a little shoulder or a little knee or a little ankle or a little elbow.
It's not that big a dealDoes he fill a need?
He's a jump off the screen talent, we all know that.
Six five, 255, bundle of energy.
I've talked to Raiders people dating back months.
Heart and soul guy in the locker room.
Iron Man, never comes off the field.
Wildly productive.
Last four years, 42.5 sacks.
And all the hurries, and all the pressures, and chasing down running backs from behind, the whole thing.
What did Jerry recently say about Max?
This is before they played them.
He was on 105.3 The Fan.
"That Crosby, he's a mess."
And he's a mess means he's good.
A defensive end who can flat rush the passer, at the same time play the run.
You try not to even go to his side of the field.
He's an outside guy that makes a difference.
That's Jerry's scouting report on him.
And he would obviously be, by far, the Cowboys' best edge, edge rusher.
It wouldn't even be close.
So, hey, Donovan Easy is gonna be good.
Fine.
Hey, Clowney would be a good guy.
Clo- Clowney'd be fine to sign.
You can do all these other things, but this is a whole different level of guy.
And one more aspect to wrestle with here, and this is a big one, from between now and next trade deadline.
The Dak window, don't waste it.
You, you've got Dak Prescott playing at a very high level.
he's about to turn Next summer, he'll turn 33.
Working the, on, on the assumption that, that Dak can do next year what he's done this year, go for it.
Build around him now and worry about 2029 later.
crazy.
Fish, you're saying we can afford Max Crosby and pay Pickens?
100%.
With ease.
Finally, Fish's five, item five.
What does he think of Dallas?
He recently mentioned that he watched the Netflix thing, The Gambler, on Jerry.
His quote on Jerry in his movie review, "That dude is a maverick.
He changed the game in so many ways.
People like that, they really go against the grain.
They stand up for what they believe in, and they literally risk everything to go after what they love and believe in.
I got nothing but respect for Jerry Jones.
I got a ton of respect for Jerry and what he's built over there in Dallas."
That's a beard scratcher.
By the way, little known fact, as Benjamin points out, he's from here.
He's born in Michigan, but went to high school here, Colleyville Heritage.
and he s- speaks fondly of this area.
This is a call Dallas simply must make.
And that belief is now fortified more than ever, not just by what the Cowboys need to do talent-wise, but also by what the Raiders can do cap-wise, and now by what Max Crosby might just demand that they do.
Come find us at cowboysroundtable.com.
the Dak Prescott bobblehead can and will be somebody's, and the 75-member staff, has got it cooking today and this week in Cowboy coverage.
Cowboys, free agency, the draft, the Giants, and all the rest of it, cowboysroundtable.com.
Fish out.
