Maxx Crosby
Getty
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - SEPTEMBER 15: Defensive end Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders sacks quarterback Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens in the second half at M&T Bank Stadium on September 15, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
There’s a lot to unpack with what’s going on between the Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, and DE Maxx Crosby, but now that the Ravens went out and handed pass rusher Trey Hendrickson a four-year, $112M deal, Baltimore is being heavily criticized.
NFL insider Dianna Russini reported the following:
“It’s been made clear by multiple people around the NFL at all levels that Baltimore had all the information and understood where Maxx Crosby’s knee was in terms of his recovery timeline. Many in the league believe GM Eric DeCosta and the Ravens ultimately just got cold feet.”
CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones added, “Boy, this is really bad football. This is bad karma for the Ravens. Very shady by Baltimore.”
This was one major issue teams across the league have with the Ravens right now. But Baltimore decided not only to pull out of the Crosby deal, but also to sign Hendrickson to a massive four-year contract the following day, which doesn’t sit right with a lot of people.
Jonathan Jones
NFL teams are raising their eyebrows at how Baltimore handled this Maxx Crosby situation. Something many have wondered is why a massive Friday agreement with a player coming off surgery took 4 days for an evaluation
Ravens Criticized for Signing Trey Hendrickson After Backing Out of Raiders-Maxx Crosby Deal
Trey Hendrickson
GettyTrey Hendrickson #91 of the Cincinnati Bengals motions for a safety against the Baltimore Ravens.
People around the NFL community were quick to judge the Ravens’ signing of Hendrickson.
“Hmm. All seems a little shady to me.” @DZangaroNBCS
“Hmmm” @jeffphowe
“The#Ravens have not said a word yet, and as a result the overall perception around the NFL is that Baltimore got cold feet on the Maxx Crosby deal, realized over the last few days that Trey Hendrickson had little market, and pivoted to Hendrickson — breaking what many view as a trust agreement teams have with each other. Not a single NFL person has been able to explain Baltimore’s point of view yet. There are a lot of angry people.” @MySportsUpdate
“There’s acting in bad faith & then there’s whatever the hell the Ravens just did. 12 hours in between bailing out of the Maxx Crosby trade & then signing Trey Hendrickson.” @AaronLemingNFL
It’s an insane turn of events to say the least, and it’s hard to imagine the 31 other teams around the NFL will be comfortable engaging in trade talks with the Ravens in the future.
Raiders’ Plan With Crosby Back on the Roster
Now that Crosby is back, the Raiders lose almost $31 million in available cap space. Despite this, Las Vegas will still honor all the agreements they made with free agents, which is good news.
The Raiders still have money to make other deals as well, but likely will be more conservative than initially planned now that Crosby is back.
As for Crosby, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, he’s back from Baltimore and is ready to resume his rehab and play football for Las Vegas.
“#Raiders star Maxx Crosby, now back from Baltimore with the trade to the#Ravens off, is headed back into the building in Las Vegas, ready to resume his training and rehab program. His mindset: Crosby is ready to play football for the#Raiders, ready to move forward.”
The Raiders are still receiving calls from other teams on Crosby, and the expectation is they will listen. However, Russini pointed out that they still don’t want to budge off their asking price of two first-round picks.
But for now, Crosby is back.