Much to the dismay of Cheeseheads everywhere, the Chicago Bears had a fantastic 2025 season under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, who flipped the Monsters of the Midway from a 5-12 last-place team into an 11-6 NFC North champion.
One of those 11 wins came in Week 16 at the expense of the Green Bay Packers, who coughed up a 10-point lead in the final five minutes of regulation and then watched Caleb Williams throw the pass of the year in overtime to give Chicago an improbable 22-16 victory.
Just a few weeks later, of course, the longtime rivals met in the postseason for just the third time ever. And once again, the Packers were in position to win, taking a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter, only for Chicago to put up 25 points in the final frame en route to a 31-27 win, thus notching the franchise's first playoff victory in 15 years. The Bears then gave the Los Angeles Rams all they could handle in the Divisional Round before taking a 20-17 defeat in overtime.
Simply put, the Bears are the real deal, and the Packers certainly don't need or want them getting any better this offseason. But if these Maxx Crosby trade rumors, which are ramping up by the second, come to fruition, Green Bay, the rest of the NFC North, and the entire NFL, for that matter, could be in big trouble. And Crosby himself has now added fuel to the fire, and Packers fans are freaking out.
Maxx Crosby made some big waves by having Caleb Williams on his podcast
As to exactly how some think Crosby has somewhat stirred the pot, his guest this week on his The Rush With Maxx Crosby podcast was none other than Caleb Williams. And if you hit up just about any social media site right now, you'll find Green Bay fans (and Raiders fans, of course) worrying a little bit with what Crosby told the Bears' rising star right at the tail end of the interview.
"Just to be open and honest, bro, like we talked about earlier, but respect at a different level, bro. You’re one of those guys, for sure," Crosby told Williams, "and you’re just getting started.
"I don’t even know you understand yet how good you can be, and that’s the scariest part. You know what I mean? Just keep that mindset, keep doing what you’re doing. You know we’re locked in forever. So keep doing your thing, bro. You need me, hit me at any time. It goes vice versa."
Now, this could obviously just be one player simply praising another. But it's also easy to see it as Crosby hinting at how much he'd love to join Williams in the Windy City.
Given the state of the Las Vegas Raiders, who are coming off a 3-14 season and will enter the 2026 campaign with their fourth different head coach in as many years, there has naturally been all sorts of speculation surrounding Crosby, with Jay Glazer even going as far to say that the five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher was "done" with the Silver & Black during Super Bowl week.
Given their need for an upgrade in the pass-rush department, the Bears would obviously be a great fit for the two-time All-Pro. The Raiders have shown no inclination to trade him this offseason, but that doesn't really mean anything, as the Dallas Cowboys showed no inclination to trade Micah Parsons last year—until they did.
We'll obviously just have to wait and see how things play out, but don't expect these rumors to subside anytime soon.