Before the Baltimore Ravens traded for Maxx Crosby, there were a handful of other teams in hot pursuit.
One of those is a bit of a surprising name: The Buffalo Bills.
But Sports Illustrated's national NFL writer, Albert Breer, named the Bills among the teams in the mix for the pass rusher playing on a three-year, $106.5 million contract extension ($35.5 million AAV).
"With the Bills, Bears, Cowboys and Ravens among those lined up as the league descended on Indianapolis, the Raiders had leverage to drive the price up," Breer wrote.
The Cowboys were known to be after Crosby. The Bears had already been reported. The Ravens are obviously the team that ended up getting him.
Buffalo's involvement had flown a bit more under the radar.
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It adds a bit of extra pain, then, that Crosby ends up with a different AFC contender and would have the potential to chase after Josh Allen in a big game against the Ravens down the road.
Breer then explained why the deal didn't get done for the Bills.
“A dividing line for the Raiders was where the picks being discussed landed in the first round,” Breer wrote. “The Cowboys held the 12th pick, while the Ravens had the 14th selection. And it led to teams bowing out. The Bills were the most prominent example, holding the 26th pick, which was 500 points on the Jimmy Johnson draft chart, less valuable than Dallas’s pick, and 400 points less valuable than Baltimore’s pick… That meant Buffalo would essentially have to add a second-round pick to whatever Dallas or Baltimore offered, which is why, in the end, the Bills bowed out of the bidding.”
So in the end, the Bills may have simply not had what it took here. They tried to make it happen.
The Ravens won out, and Crosby will be a crucial pickup as they seek a bounceback season.
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