New theory about Ravens pivoting from Maxx Crosby to Trey Hendrickson emerges

Much has been said about written about the Baltimore Ravens backing out of the trade that would have involved Baltimore sending two first-round draft picks to the Las Vegas Raiders for defensive star Maxx Crosby.

Since that trade was scrapped, the Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson have reportedly agreed to a four-year, $112M contract that includes $60M in fully guaranteed money and could be worth up to $120M. 

General managers and other NFL executives have said that they feel that Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta got "cold feet" about losing a pair of first-round draft choices to acquire a 28-year-old who is coming off a meniscus repair he needed earlier this winter. For a piece published on Thursday morning, Mike Sando and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic spoke with a "team executive" who suggested the Ravens always viewed Crosby as a plan B in the event that Hendrickson signed with a different club. 

When did Ravens truly pivot Maxx Crosby to Trey Hendrickson?

"I cannot believe whoever did the Ravens’ analytics said, 'It would be better for us to not have two first-round picks with Maxx Crosby instead of having Trey Hendrickson with those picks,'" that executive explained. "I just can’t believe that was said. And I can’t believe that that analysis wasn’t done in late February, the first couple days of March. If they could not get Hendrickson, they were going to go through with the Crosby trade, in my opinion. They were willing to pay that premium in draft choices as insurance." 

Interestingly, it was thought as recently as Tuesday that Hendrickson's camp had learned the market for his services wasn't as robust as he hoped. On Wednesday, DeCosta confirmed a previous report and said his plan was to land both Hendrickson and Crosby this offseason. 

Raiders could have handled the Maxx Crosby trade better

Multiple in-the-know individuals have hinted that Crosby failed his Ravens physical due to concerns related to how his knee would hold up beyond the 2026 season. Others have noted that the Raiders should have taken steps to ensure that a team giving up two first-round draft picks for a player who may not be fully cleared until June would have felt better about the trade. 

"[The Raiders] should have demanded that the physical take place immediately," the previously mentioned executive told The Athletic. "Because when you’re heading into free agency, you can’t live with that uncertainty. Normally, both teams have an equal level of urgency. But this was a case where it was a huge advantage for the Ravens to wait to see if they could get Hendrickson."

DeCosta insisted on Wednesday that he is "disappointed" the Ravens weren't able to officially introduce Crosby as their new player this week. That said, the fact that Baltimore didn't wait long to lock Hendrickson down after the Crosby trade was nullified will seemingly remain a talking point among members of the NFL community through the spring and summer months.