The Baltimore Ravens have been accused by NFL general managers and executives of having “cold feet” regarding the decision to back out of the trade that would have involved Baltimore sending two first-round draft picks to the Las Vegas Raiders for star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby.
People associated with the Ravens who spoke with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated “vehemently denied” that calling off the trade was related to anything other than the fact that Crosby reportedly failed his physical. For a piece published on Wednesday, NFL reporter Eric Williams of Fox Sports expanded on the Ravens’ reaction to not acquiring Crosby.
Ravens “hate” how Maxx Crosby trade saga ended
“It must have been a real serious long-term physical concern,” a league source told Williams about Baltimore backing out of the trade. “The Ravens wanted him desperately. They hate this.”
The Ravens didn’t wait long to react to Tuesday’s developments. On Wednesday morning, it was learned that Baltimore and Cincinnati Bengals pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson had agreed to a four-year, $112M contract that includes $60M in fully guaranteed money and could be worth up to $120M. The Hendrickson deal predictably has left some believing the Ravens simply had second thoughts about sending the Raiders two first-round draft choices when Hendrickson was available for nothing other than the price of his contract.
What Ravens, Raiders could have done to avoid any issues with Maxx Crosby trade
Crosby underwent a meniscus repair earlier this winter that reportedly was always going to result in the 28-year-old failing a March physical. Nevertheless, one longtime NFL medical staff member suggested while speaking with Williams that the Raiders and Ravens could have both handled things differently before Baltimore scrapped the trade.
“What should have happened is when [the Ravens] were ready to consummate a trade, they should have said, ‘Look, we all know [Crosby] had a meniscus repair. You’re saying he’s fine and showing us his medical records. But let’s not have us both have eggs on our faces. Either you have Maxx fly out here, or we’ll fly our team doctor out to see Maxx, and we’ll just dot our I’s and cross our T’s before we make this announcement of the trade,'” the medical staff member told Williams.
For whatever reason, it appears such a conversation between the Raiders and Ravens didn’t happen. Other teams may not make a similar mistake while making future trades with the Ravens between the end of a Super Bowl and the start of a new league year.