The Baltimore Ravens spent the weekend considering a pass-rush duo that could have transformed their defense: five-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby on one edge and four-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson on the other.
By Tuesday morning, the plan was gone and general manager Eric DeCosta was left explaining why Baltimore nixed its agreement to acquire Crosby from the Las Vegas Raiders one day before signing Hendrickson to a lucrative free-agent contract.
“Nobody’s more upset about this than me — gutted by it, actually,” DeCosta said Wednesday afternoon at the team facility. “And so a regret, a big regret for me, but we will move on as a football team.”
On Friday, Baltimore agreed to send two first-round picks to Las Vegas for Crosby with the deal to be made official when the NFL’s new league year began Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Ravens brought in Crosby, who underwent knee surgery in January, to complete the standard physical. Multiple reports indicated the Ravens could not move forward with the deal after reviewing the results.
DeCosta confirmed Crosby was in the building, but he said the team “couldn’t complete the process.” He declined to be more specific about Crosby, who owns 69.5 career sacks in 110 games.
The fallout was immediate and noisy because Baltimore pivoted quickly to Hendrickson, who owns 81 sacks in 117 regular-season games. The Ravens reached a four-year, $112 million agreement with the former Bengals star within 24 hours of scuttling the trade.
That timing fueled the easy assumption that the Ravens got cold feet on the Crosby price tag and grabbed a different edge rusher instead. DeCosta pushed back on that idea, saying the point was to pursue both.
He said the Hendrickson talks began Monday when the team learned center Tyler Linderbaum was headed to Las Vegas and were originally framed as a complement to Crosby, not a replacement.
“We live in that age of skepticism,” DeCosta said. “I’ve got a responsibility to the Ravens, to this community, to our fans and to (majority owner) Steve Bisciotti to do what we think is best for the club.”
DeCosta downplayed any potential long-term damage from the failed trade, pointing out that his phone is “still ringing” and insisting the Ravens’ relationships around the league remain strong.
