The Las Vegas Raiders had a deal in place to send Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens for the No. 14 overall pick and a first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. As we all know by now, Baltimore backed out of the deal, claiming that the five-time Pro Bowler failed his physical.
That was to be expected, however, as Crosby had undergone knee surgery earlier this offseason. The decision to call off the trade seemed less motivated by the injury and more motivated by the fact that they were able to retain their premier draft capital and sign Trey Hendrickson for a similar contract.
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta spoke with the media for the first time since the cancelled deal on Wednesday. He said a lot of nothing, and he continued to try and do damage control through back channels, with a recent report emerging that Baltimore was prepared to give Crosby a new deal.
Crosby's agent fired back at that report.
Raiders' Maxx Crosby's agent calls out report about Ravens extension
The Ravens' decision to back out of the trade for Crosby sent shockwaves throughout the league. There have been plenty of conflicting reports in the time since the cancelled trade, leading to speculation about what actually occurred.
The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported that Baltimore planned to sign the superstar pass rusher to a top of the market extension.
"As part of the proposed trade for Maxx Crosby, the Ravens were also prepared to sign him to a revised contract that would have paid him near the top of the pass rusher market. Had that deal gone through, it would have made also signing Trey Hendrickson VERY difficult."
Crosby's agent, CJ LaBoy, was quick to refute that report with a two-word response.
"Fake news."
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LaBoy has been quick to push back on the narrative that the Ravens have seemingly attempted to spread about his client. He previously fired back at the notion that Crosby's physical showed worse damage than what Baltimore initially thought.
The drama involving the Raiders star has lasted for several months, and fans will likely continue to get conflicting reports over the next couple of weeks. In all likelihood, the NFL world will probably never get the true story about what led to DeCosta backing out of the trade.
Two things have become clear in the aftermath of the trading falling through: Crosby's agent is not allowing the Ravens to dictate the narrative by telling lies about how the situation unfolded. He's quickly shutting any attempt at damage control down.
Second, and perhaps most importantly, a motivated Crosby is back in Las Vegas, and he no longer appears to want a trade. While losing the draft haul may hurt the rebuild, the Raiders' defense, which has already significantly improved, now has its superstar back in tow.