Maxx Crosby Las Vegas Raiders
Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders
The fallout for the Baltimore Ravens — and the continued damage to their reputation — took another turn on Tuesday when Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby explained his side of the failed trade that would have sent him to the Ravens in exchange for 2 1st round draft picks.
Crosby, in very plain and believable terms, laid out what happened between himself and the Ravens after the trade seemed to directly contradict the story Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta shared after the Ravens claimed a failed physical prompted them to back out of the trade.
In Crosby’s version, it’s very clear that before a failed physical — he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in January — the Ravens were already moving in another direction.
The greatest evidence of this seems to be that the Ravens signed free agent edge rusher Trey Hendrickson to a 4-year, $112 million contract just hours after they backed out of the Crosby trade.
“With what Maxx Crosby said (on Tuesday), it makes Eric DeCosta and the Ravens look worse than I originally thought,” NFL insider Chase Senior said on Tuesday. ” … how about this, he was in the Ravens facility for 5 hours and didn’t meet Eric DeCosta once. After he flew across the country. After you made a trade of 2 1st round picks for him. After he became one of the faces of your franchise. What are we doing here? Spare me with the ‘it almost brought me to tears’ … bull (expletive).”
Public Sentiment Against Ravens Continues to Grow
One of the more interesting things that’s come out of the failed Crosby trade is that it’s become apparent people in NFL circles really don’t like dealing with DeCosta or the Ravens.
“What’s come out of this is there is a universal disdain in the NFL for Eric DeCosta,” ESPN analyst and former NFL defensive back Ryan Clark said on March 12. “Nobody has come out and backed (DeCosta) as trustworthy and honest.”
Following Crosby’s side of the story on Tuesday, those feelings seemed to be even more pronounced.
“DeCosta is saying he’s gutted? Please. Ain’t nobody falling for that,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said on Wednesday. ” … Instead, you put something out there leaning on the physical and hampered the Raiders’ ability to get what they were asking (in a trade) for Crosby. You also hurt Crosby’s value. Why? Because you were going to get a better deal with Trey Hendrickson. That’s not how you’re supposed to do business. It’s a bad look for DeCosta and a bad look for the Ravens.”
What Eric DeCosta Said After Trade Fell Through
DeCosta spoke to the media less than 24 hours following the decision to back out of the trade for Crosby. It would have been the 1st time in franchise history the Ravens ever included a future 1st round pick in a trade.
He addressed the rampant speculation about how the Ravens actually came to their decision. DeCosta also tried to sell the public on the idea that the franchise wanted to have both Crosby and Hendrickson on the roster in 2026. Which makes little to no sense in terms of salary cap space.
“Nobody is more upset by this than me,” DeCosta told the media. “I’m gutted by it. I understand how people would feel that way (about conspiracies). But I have a responsibility to the Ravens.”