Ravens back out of Maxx Crosby trade, raising questions about offseason deals

For most of their 30-year history, the Baltimore Ravens have had one of the top front offices in the NFL, but with one shocking move Tuesday night, the team suddenly turned into the sleazy used car salesman nobody trusts.

In an absolute stunner, the Ravens decided to back out of the Maxx Crosby trade due to a failed physical. And if you read the Raiders’ statement, you can tell they’re absolutely livid.

When a trade gets called off due to a failed physical, the news usually leaks to the media with a note that the deal is now “off.” The Raiders didn’t do that. They released the news themselves and made sure to let everyone know the Ravens “backed out” of the deal.

When you agree to an NFL trade before the official start of free agency, it’s essentially a gentleman’s agreement because it can’t be finalized until free agency actually starts. By backing out of this deal, the Ravens have set a dangerous precedent for the NFL and for themselves. If you’re another team and the Ravens call you about a trade, why would you even answer the phone? I’d let it go to voicemail, and my voicemail would say, “If this is the Ravens, don’t ever call me again. If this is anyone else, I’ll call you back in five.”

That sentiment isn’t just hypothetical.

One agent had a simple thought after the deal fell apart: “How can a team ever trust the Ravens again?” the agent told CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones.

The official reason this trade got called off was a failed physical, but it’s pretty clear the Ravens got cold feet. They can spin this however they want, but all you have to do is look at the numbers to understand what happened:

• Maxx Crosby had four years left on his deal at $112.9 million.
• Trey Hendrickson got a four-year deal in Baltimore worth $112 million.

Baltimore called off the Crosby deal Tuesday night and had Hendrickson under contract by Wednesday morning for almost the exact amount of money they were going to pay Crosby. Even my five-year-old can connect the dots on that.

The Ravens didn’t just call off the wedding here: They called it off and then went out and married someone else the next morning.

The Ravens were going to give up two first-round picks to get Crosby, but they don’t have to give up any draft picks for Hendrickson, and that’s the biggest difference here. The Ravens win and everyone else loses.

The Raiders lose because they thought they were getting multiple first-round picks. Every other team in the Crosby sweepstakes loses. Other teams hoping to land Hendrickson also lose. As a matter of fact, the Colts were on the cusp of signing Hendrickson before the Crosby situation unfolded, according to NFL Media.

The failed physical designation looks even more ridiculous when you consider the details of the trade. The Ravens knew Crosby underwent surgery in January. They knew he was rehabbing. And they knew he wouldn’t be available for on-field activities until later this year.

In early February, NFL Media reported that Crosby “won’t be medically cleared before free agency officially begins,” so everyone involved knew he wouldn’t be medically cleared.

Despite having all of the information on Crosby, they still went through with the trade Friday night and didn’t call it off until four days later.

The Ravens essentially agreed to buy a house that needed a new roof and then got mad because it needed a new roof.

The surgeon who performed Crosby’s knee procedure, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, told ESPN that things were going well in rehab, which makes you wonder what the Ravens found that they didn’t like.

Maxx Crosby is doing very well in the early part of his rehab and recovery from surgery to treat a significant meniscus tear and the related stress injury to the bone and cartilage in his knee. He is certainly on track in his planned program….he feels very well and is already much improved compared to before surgery. At this point, Max is doing an excellent job attacking his rehab and his knee is responding very well. We look forward to Maxx returning to his elite level of performance this season as planned and for several more to come.

If Hendrickson had signed with another team in free agency on Monday or Tuesday, the Crosby deal probably doesn’t fall apart. But with Hendrickson’s price seemingly falling by the hour, he suddenly became affordable to Baltimore.

The Ravens pulled the rug out from underneath the Raiders, and it’s not just Las Vegas that’s upset. The rest of the league is irate.

“This is very much bullshit on Baltimore’s part,” one NFL general manager told NFL Media.

The problem for the NFL is that the league can’t do anything about it. The other problem is that this potentially sets a horrible precedent. The only team that benefited from the Crosby trade being called off was the Ravens: They get their picks back and still got their pass rusher in Hendrickson.

If more teams start doing what the Ravens did — calling off a trade because they found something better — the NFL could have a problem on its hands. Teams might threaten to stop doing business with the Ravens, but it’s unlikely that would stick.

The more pressing issue would be if more teams start backing out of trades in the 11th hour. If that begins to happen regularly, the NFL might need to implement some sort of rule change for offseason trades that take place before the start of free agency.

The Ravens did what was best for the Ravens, but it might not end up being what’s best for the NFL.