Las Vegas Raiders fans are probably sick of hearing about the failed Maxx Crosby trade with the Baltimore Ravens at this point. At the end of the day, it is all water under the bridge if the superstar edge rusher remains in Las Vegas; it is what it is.
And while some fans may still be grieving the two extra first-round picks and the $30 million in salary cap space that the team lost, others are just angry with the way that the Ravens treated Crosby when he arrived at the team facility in Baltimore with his family.
As Crosby said on his podcast, the full truth of the situation may never come out. But ESPN's Ryan McFadden, with the help of his colleagues, got some brand-new intel on the matter, and it blows the case wide open for those who think something nefarious went on with GM Eric DeCosta and Co.
ESPN reports paint Ravens in bad light after failed Maxx Crosby trade
McFadden's piece went into detail about all that transpired between the two sides, based on what is known or has been reported. He began with the assertion that the Raiders and Crosby's camp are skeptical about the Ravens' motives, as fans have expressed all along.
"Sources with the Raiders and those close to Crosby are skeptical that his medical state was the sole motive for the trade reversal, given the timing and that Baltimore had a full understanding of the injury before the trade," McFadden wrote.
In defense of Baltimore, many have asserted that the Ravens didn't know the extent of Crosby's injury until he arrived. But McFadden included some information that a source with direct knowledge of the situation shared with him, and it is rather revealing.
"(The Ravens) had access to imaging and the doctors' reports on it," the source said.
Just as Raider Nation expected, Baltimore had prior knowledge of Crosby's injury, and they still went through with the trade. McFadden also acknowledged, though, that the long-term prospects of Crosby's injury might not have been favorable in the Ravens' eyes.
"The consensus was that Crosby would be able to play in 2026. The Ravens' concern centered on the uncertainty of Crosby's durability after a couple of seasons in Baltimore because of a degenerative issue in his knee, a source told ESPN."
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While that is certainly understandable, to an extent, let's not act like Baltimore made this trade with the future in mind. This was a win-now move for the Ravens, who are in a Super Bowl window for the next one or two years. Crosby was supposed to be the missing piece; that's why they gave up picks.
Plus, McFadden revealed later in his piece that the Raiders were quite forthcoming during the entire process, hiding nothing about Crosby's medical records from the Ravens. Baltimore seemingly made a rash -- or perhaps calculated -- decision later in the process.
"Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation believed the Raiders and Crosby's representatives were transparent about the injury throughout the trade process and that Baltimore had done extensive research on Crosby's recovery and timeline during that time."
Not only that, but McFadden included a bit from one of his sources that serves as the smoking gun of sorts that the Ravens weren't all that concerned about the medicals after all. It sounds like Baltimore had the information it needed prior to the agreement, so something else must have changed.
"[The Ravens] had a lot of information at their disposal and still green-lit the trade," one of the sources said. "They did enough legwork that should have eliminated some of the concern."
Kudos to McFadden for uncovering even more information about this whole saga and blowing the case wide open with his reporting. The picture of a conniving Ravens front office continues to be painted, and almost no reports have indicated anything to the contrary. Certainly not this one.