Baltimore Ravens Should Be Shamed for Backing Out of Maxx Crosby Trade

The Baltimore Ravens should be ashamed of themselves.

But they aren’t.

On Tuesday evening, the Las Vegas Raiders released a statement with a pissed off undertone that the Ravens have backed out of the blockbuster trade for defensive end Maxx Crosby.

The Raiders were set to receive two first-round selections from Baltimore, an organization that has never traded a first-round selection for a player. However, the Ravens decided to fail Crosby on his physical which voided the trade and sent shockwaves through the NFL.

According to NFL insider Dianna Russini, the belief around the league is that the Ravens got buyer’s remorse and decided to nix the trade.

On Wednesday morning, the Ravens added insult to injury by signing former Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson to a four-year contract.

In summary, the Ravens kept both of their first-round draft picks while landing a different premier defensive end in free agency. Feel gross? Feel shady? That’s because it is.

No NFL teams should ever do business with the Ravens as long as Eric DeCosta is the team’s general manager.

Sure, the trade was not official until the new league year opens on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. But to back out of a trade of this magnitude and fail a player on his physical due to buyer’s remorse? That’s deplorable.

On Tuesday night, Crosby posted a photo on his Instagram that he was on a private jet, likely departing from Baltimore upon learning the news of his failed physical. He’ll return to the Raiders, who won’t have nearly the same trade interest as they had before. In fact, several teams anticipate that the Raiders will be the team that has to pick up the phone and try to move Crosby again.

That’s because between Sunday night when the trade was agreed upon and Tuesday night when it fell through, NFL teams have spent billions of dollars in free agent contracts. For example, the Dallas Cowboys were initially interested in trading for Crosby. They were offering more than a first-round pick, but they were beat out by the Ravens, who offered two.

Now? The Cowboys have no interest in trading for Crosby. Not because they are afraid of his medicals. But because they pivoted to trade with the Green Bay Packers for defensive end Rashan Gary while adding other pieces in free agency to complement.

The Ravens have completely screwed over the Raiders. They’ve left Crosby in a wildly uncomfortable situation as well. 

But they don’t care. They’re operating business as usual. 

Never even released a statement but went ahead and added Hendrickson on a major deal while stealing their draft picks back. Shameful.