Maxx Crosby trade collapses, Ravens acquire Trey Hendrickson
The Baltimore Ravens have undergone a major change in direction after Maxx Crosby is no longer available for trade due to his illness. Baltimore moved quickly, agreeing to a four-year, $112 million deal with star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.
- The trade that sent Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens was canceled due to concerns from the Ravens’ medical staff.
- Team doctors often take a conservative approach to player physicals, which can lead to deals being voided.
- This situation is reminiscent of when the Miami Dolphins released Drew Brees in 2006 due to concerns about a shoulder injury.
The Miami Dolphins’ equipment staff quickly donned Drew Brees’ jerseys for the introductory press conference. That never happened — even though former Dolphins general manager Randy Mueller claimed in 2006 that a five-year, $50 million deal was in place to sign Brees.
Instead, Brees will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer thanks to his heroics as a member of the New Orleans Saints, the same reason Maxx Crosby went from the Las Vegas Raiders to the Baltimore Ravens and back to the Raiders in four days.
The team’s medical staff intervened and voided the contract.
The shoulder that Miami doctors were worried about was healing well for Brees, and the Saints took a risk while Dolphins management bet on Daunte Culpepper’s broken knee over Brees’ hip arm.
Former Raiders CEO Amy Trask said there’s a good reason why team doctors are “very conservative” in their prognosis when recruiting players.
“Because you don’t want to be the team doctor who sticks his neck out and does the wrong thing,” Trask told USA TODAY Sports.
Crosby is recovering from a partially torn meniscus that was surgically repaired in January. Due to this injury, the Raiders asked Crosby to miss the final two games of the season. According to FOX Sports, Crosby was not satisfied with that and left the team in anger.
With Crosby’s final days in the silver and black firmly entrenched and a rebuild in the desert seemingly underway, the Ravens traded Crosby and sent 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to Las Vegas. The shock came Tuesday night when the Raiders revealed in a statement that the Ravens had “withdrawn” their contract.
“Even if you trade for a player who has repaired his meniscus, he’s not in good shape at this point,” said former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum. “How different was it from what they expected?”
Tannenbaum said it’s more common for medical issues to be discovered during pre-draft testing. Another team may perform a medical on Crosby and find it less of an issue, or maybe not at all.
Tannenbaum pointed out that the text of the law is that nothing can be officially announced until 4 p.m. on the day the league’s new year begins.
“Until then, this is all hypothetical,” said Tannenbaum, now an ESPN analyst.
The Ravens didn’t necessarily do anything wrong.
“I think they just see it differently,” Tannenbaum said.
Shortly after news of his return broke, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero quoted an anonymous general manager as saying, “This is a (expletive) statement on the part of Baltimore.”
Tannenbaum doesn’t necessarily agree that any reputations have been tarnished.
“In the NFL, everything is transactional,” he said. “And if it’s the best opportunity to work with the Ravens, they’ll work with the Ravens. I’m not really focused on that.”
Opinions about the Ravens’ level of deception will vary from front office to front office. But even if the Ravens have players that other teams want, Trask said that doesn’t affect other teams’ desire to acquire them.
“It’s probably situational ethics,” said Trask, now an analyst for CBS Sports.
Trask doesn’t think this indicates any remorse on the part of the buyer. However, the doctor’s findings certainly affected the value of Crosby, who the Ravens originally considered to be two first-round picks.
DeCosta said at a press conference Wednesday that he understands the skepticism.
“Every decision we make is based on the idea, ‘Is this what’s best for the Ravens?'” DeCosta told reporters. “This is very, very challenging. Again, I understand that people may feel that way – maybe from a distance, but no one is more upset about this than I am. I’m disappointed in this. In fact, it’s very disappointing to me.”
But he didn’t necessarily intend to undo anything, other than the deal itself.
“It was a really, really, really tough decision,” he said. “I had a moment yesterday, to be honest, where I was probably speechless. I was just sitting in my office chair trying to figure out what the next step was and trying to get as much information as possible. In a situation like this, you try to get as much information as possible from as many different sources as possible, and it just didn’t work out.”
Trask’s initial reaction to the reversal was that Crosby would appreciate the opportunity to show the Ravens they were wrong to back out of his contract.
“He’s always played with passion and purpose,” Trask said. “I think he’s going to be more ferocious and ferocious now.”
Tannenbaum believes the Raiders will continue to try to trade Crosby, and said any future move for Crosby could include conditions based on Crosby’s availability in 2026, such as number of games started or percentage of snaps played.
Tannenbaum said a second-round pick could turn into a first-round pick, depending on whether certain criteria are met. That would help the Raiders if moving Crosby is a priority.
“I’m sure they’ll find suitors,” he said. “I’d be surprised if you didn’t.”
Meanwhile, Ravens edge rusher Trey Hendrickson “pivoted really well and quickly.” DeCosta said the Ravens’ trade for Crosby and signing Hendrickson are “mutually exclusive.” DeCosta said interest in Hendrickson began after it became clear that the Raiders had lost center Tyler Linderbaum, who ironically signed a three-year, $81 million contract with the Raiders.
Having problems during a physical exam is not a new phenomenon. Three years ago, Jimmy Garoppolo’s press conference for joining the Raiders was delayed by a day due to wording in his contract due to a foot injury he underwent surgery shortly after. It happens in other sports too. In the NBA, a trade for Mark Williams from the Los Angeles Lakers was canceled due to poor health. MLB shortstop Carlos Correa has agreed to a six-year deal with the Minnesota Twins in 2023, opting out of two long-term contracts due to concerns over an injury sustained nearly a decade ago.
But in the NFL, not every example involves players like Brees or Crosby. The Athletic noted that a deal with wide receiver Ryan Grant fell through in 2018 due to medical concerns, and the same thing happened with defensive lineman Michael Brockers in 2020.
Trask said the story took on another level of magnitude because of the players involved and the compensation.
“In other words, a dominant defensive lineman and two first-round picks,” Trask said. “I think that’s why this story got more attention than situations like this in the past.”
