Less than 24 hours after the Baltimore Ravens pulled out of their agreement to trade two first-round picks to the Las Vegas Raiders for star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, a somber Eric DeCosta spoke to reporters. The Ravens general manager said during this press conference that he was “gutted” by the fact that his organization had to blow up the deal.
“We were really excited about adding Maxx, potentially adding Maxx to our team,” DeCosta said, via Pro Football Talk. “I had already begun discussions with John Spytek, those discussions continued, we were really thinking that we were getting some traction. We did. As part of the normal trade process, there were a lot of different parts with the trade process, we’ve done a lot of trades. One of the key things is you bring a player in and try to get as much information as you can. We were not able to complete the process of trading for the player, based on our assessment of the situation.”
During Crosby’s in-person physical with the Ravens on Tuesday, they discovered something that made them uncomfortable with their original agreement. Crosby underwent surgery on the meniscus in his left knee back in January, and he is still recovering from that procedure. However, in projecting what his recovery could look like, Baltimore’s medical staff apparently ran into trouble.
This quick heel turn, followed by the Ravens’ decision to sign former Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson to a four-year, $112 million deal Wednesday morning, led the NFL world — fans and reporters alike — to speculate that the Ravens had buyer’s remorse on the blockbuster deal, and got cold feet in the eleventh hour. With Hendrickson still available two days into free agency, and him not costing two first-round picks to sign, was that all of a sudden the more intriguing option?
“This is very much bullshit on Baltimore’s part,” one general manager told NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero.
“How can a team ever trust the Ravens again?,” one agent said to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones.
“I don’t think many teams will feel comfortable trading with the Ravens,” one league source told Jones.
An interesting report from NFL Media states that the Ravens at one point attempted to renegotiate the Crosby trade with the Raiders to mitigate the risk. However, those talks did not go very far after further medical discovery led Baltimore to back out completely. Ultimately, DeCosta said he had to make the best decision for the Ravens, and that was to rescind his offer of two first-round picks for a player they could not medically clear.
“I’ve got a responsibility to the Ravens,” DeCosta said. “I understand how people from afar would feel that way, but nobody’s more upset about this than me. Gutted by it, actually, a big regret for me.”
DeCosta confirmed that the Ravens were interested in pairing Crosby and Hendrickson together after losing center Tyler Linderbaum in free agency to the Raiders, but that dream fell apart. DeCosta was also asked if there was anything he regretted from this dramatic situation.
“I don’t really know what we could do differently than what we did,” DeCosta said. “Again, it’s a really, really, really, really tough call. There were moments yesterday when honestly I was probably speechless. Just sitting in my chair in my office and just thinking about what the next step would be and trying to get as much information as possible.”
On Wednesday morning Crosby’s knee surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, told ESPN that the five-time Pro Bowler is “certainly on track in his planned program,” and that he was doing an “excellent job attacking his rehab and his knee is responding very well.” Dr. ElAttrache also addressed the Ravens, saying it was understood that their task was not an easy one.
“We truly respect the work of the Ravens staff with Maxx regarding the contract physical exam. We also understand the challenge the staff faces when tasked to provide a future risk assessment based on an evaluation early in the recovery process. This is especially challenging when dealing with an elite player like Maxx considering the level of commitment necessary for a team to obtain him. The timing of this assessment is unfortunate because the apparent risk will lessen as his recovery progresses and his return to performance over the next few months becomes clear.”
It’s unlikely we will ever hear what the Ravens discovered during Crosby’s physical due to medical privacy laws. For now, Crosby is headed back to the Raiders, and reportedly ready to move forward with the organization that selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Eastern Michigan.
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