Ravens team president Sashi Brown downplayed the team’s controversial decision to back out of a trade for Maxx Crosby at league meetings this week.
“It’s unfortunate, but sometimes these things do happen – no fault of Maxx, ours or the Raiders,” Brown said (via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley). “It’s just kind of how it played out.”
The Ravens have drawn criticism for their handling of the situation, including a three-day gap between the teams agreeing to the deal and Crosby’s physical in Baltimore. By the time the Ravens informed the Raiders of their decision, two days of the legal tampering period had already passed. That impacted not just the two teams involved, but the other 30 who had made their free agency plans under the assumption that the trade would go through.
The Raiders had already committed significant sums to new signings, while the Ravens declined to re-sign their top pending free agents with the expectation of taking on Crosby’s sizable contract. Las Vegas was able to keep its existing commitments after the reversal, but Baltimore, of course, could not come calling after its former players who already had deals with other teams. Other teams like the Cowboys, who had expressed interest in Crosby, had already moved on to other options – in Dallas’ case, Rashan Gary.
The situation has highlighted the importance of physicals in processing any NFL transaction.
“This is not the first time it’s going to happen. It will not be the last,” Brown continued, noting that the Browns backed out of their agreement to sign A.J. Epenesa on Sunday. “It’s unfortunate and rare, especially in a high-profile case like this, but that’s why the processes are in place.”
Brown also acknowledged concerns that the situation would impact the Ravens’ standing with other teams.
“We’ve got strong and long relationships across the league,” he said. “We have emphasized the importance of doing things the right way. We’ll continue to do that.”
I can’t remember the last time a major star was traded then 4 days after the trade was made the trade was cancelled. This is damage control.
It’s a trade pending a physical. Blame the Raiders for being the incompetent organization that they are and not revealing how extensive his knee damage was.
Something seems amiss here. Could be one hundred percent innocent OR it could be an attempt to manipulate the market in some fashion…
Most likely somewhere in between. But pro sports being pro sports, we the American consumer will just keep on consuming regardless. Long live the millionaires and billionaires!!
If you think it was skulduggery, please walk me through the logical process of the Ravens to do so.
“It’s over and done. Move on and get off my back.”
– Sashi Brown
No one else is still talking about this except the Ravens. That guilt is weighing heavily on them.
It’s amazing how they just won’t shut up.
Well, when the media is asking you a question….you address it. Would you have preferred for him to say, “No comment?”
Social media keeps making this an issue and so do the Raiders and Maxx Crosby. Those are the only people that are actually upset, the social media and sports media chuckleheads are the ones stating how other teams in the NFL will hate this and are angry.
Why would the Ravens screw up their own off season by letting the market pass them by and nix this deal just to mess with the Raiders? It makes absolutely no sense at all. The Ravens had a ton of needs they could have addressed in the off season.
Honestly, when asked about Crosby? no comment would’ve been better.
No, that would have been interpreted as an admission of guilt. I know how you all and the media work.
If medical personnel are employed by a team they can be pressured by ownership and that can create problems. The solution seems simple but the NFL always digs in it’s heels when it’s power and control over things is challenged.
The Ravens didn’t rely on their own medical staff, they sought opinions of at least a couple of independent specialists.
So what is the solution? You can’t back out of a deal if a player fails a physical?
I imagine Crosby and the Raiders also sought out their own independent specialists so that just results in a stalemate. The solution is to have BOTH teams considering a trade to abide by the interpretation of the SAME independent specialist. Doing that eliminates any ambiguity as to whether the criteria for passing the medical was met or not.
Do you think if the Raiders doctors and specialists they went to examined him and found a problem with his knee that would jeapordize a trade that they would report it to the team that wants to trade for him or to the public? Are you serious?
Doctors will have differing opinions, that’s why you always get more than one. And every team should be able to pick and choose what doctor they want to examine a player of any kind when it comes to signing a contract with them or making a trade. Limiting the scope to only one doctor by both teams doesn’t solve the problem at all.
They probably should have had the physical done before announcing the trade. The real issue is that they should have probably expected Crosby to not be ready. I don’t think that any team would have expected him to have a great physical at this point.
I think that there’s a good chance that they honestly just didn’t like what they saw, but they might have gone along with it if they hadn’t given up so much.
Well, they did. Hello. They couldn’t announce the actual trade until the following Wednesday at 4PM EST after the Ravens nixed the potential deal.
You don’t seem to be paying attention. Nobody in their right mind would expect Crosby to be ready. The issue stems from a new discovery (at least to the Ravens anyway) that there was now a degenerative condition in the knee that would impact his long term health. That is what they saw that they didn’t like, and they said as much. So what’s the problem?
Why are you so invested in this? They definitely announced the trade first.
Like I said, they probably didn’t like what they saw. If they had done a physical first, and not liked the results, there would have been no trade to announce. The Ravens’ reasoning may be sound for their future, but their procedure created this situation. I doubt that they do it again.
Because just like you, the reports are factually incorrect. I care about the truth. It matters most. They absolutely did not announce the trade, because it would have been illegal to do so. The DEAL was reported. The trade, by NFL rule, could not be announced or completed until that following Wednesday at 4PM EST after the Ravens announced the deal was off.
Correct, they didn’t like what they saw, because they got new information about his injury. They did to the physical first, that’s why they nixed the deal, and before the trade was announced. There is a different between a DEAL being REPORTED and a TRADE that has been ANNOUNCED by the teams.
Teams have nixxed trades and free agent signings for failed physicals for years and years now. The Ravens didn’t do anything differently than what has been done in the past. It only blew up because of who is in with the Raiders (Tom Brady, you might have heard of him) and Maxx Crosby who is a high profile player. The only ones complaining about this was Maxx himself (because of course he would) and the Raiders (because of course they would) and a bunch of podcasters and media knuckleheads. The NFL said nothing about it, and no other team commented about it. Tells you everything you need to know.
If you don’t like the rules, then change them. You can’t just impose penalties on one team for doing something that everyone has done for years just because you don’t like it this time for whatever reason.
They will do it again, just like every other team in the NFL has done.
I mean that you’re super emotional about this. You’ve posted on nearly every comment here. If you want to nitpick about the particulars of announcing a DEAL versus announcing a TRADE then okay. All the reports are wrong, and I’m wrong. You got me. I accede to your argument and I’m sorry to have offended you.
They still should have done a physical on a player coming off a major injury before deciding on maybe trading two first round picks for him.
I don’t know where you get me being “emotional” about anything. I am merely repeating the truth until people get it. Why are all the people that think the Ravens did something underhanded so “emotional?” I mean they keep posting on every article, and the podcasters keep talking about it….what a bunch of “emotional” people, right?
You haven’t offended me, you were just incorrect in your whole point. This is the reason why I give the facts and truth of the matter so that people can stop posting incorrect things.
They did exactly what you are saying in your closing. The teams had a proposed deal in place. The trade is pending a physical. The Ravens conducted a physical on him before the trade could be announced and become an actual trade. They discovered new information that they didn’t have before that caused them to not think the deal was a good one. They informed the Raiders that the proposal was off before the trade could become official. So….what’s the problem here?
This is just like buying a new car. You go to the dealer and you agree to a deal that he will give you X car, in good working order, and you agree to pay a certain price for this. In the deal there is language that if you discover something within a certain period of time or miles that makes you think this car isn’t right for you, you cancel the deal and get your money back. You drive the car off the lot, within that first day you feel the transmission slipping. You take the car back to the dealer the next day and say the deal is off and you want your money back.
Again, you don’t seem to understand that a report of a deal is different from officially announcing a trade. It is a very important piece of information to get right.
I guess Shaft here doesn’t remember the Ravens trade for Terrell Owens. The Ravens made a legitimate trade for Owens, but Owens didn’t want to play for Baltimore. He insisted he was a free agent. The problem being, Owens’ agent didn’t file the paperwork to declare him a free agent. According to the rules, Owens should have been traded at the salary he had at the time unless the Ravens worked out a new deal. Those are the rules. I know everyone wants to be a stickler for them here if they are upset with the Ravens, so let’s see if they stay consistent here.
Owens took his case before the NFL and SOMEHOW managed to get the NFL to side with him and declare that he was a free agent….but then allowed him to be traded to the Eagles…….? The Ravens at least got their draft pick back, but by then, the market had moved on and the Ravens had to change their plans.
Did the Ravens get screwed in this deal?
“Uh, you know, we’re the Ravens, heh heh,” said Butthead Brown,” We don’t have a clue what we’re doing, heh heh.” “We’re so dumb we haven’t resigned Lamar, heh heh,” he continued. “About the trade, we ended up signing 3 guys for the same money,” he laughed,” you know uno, duo, tres.” Someone whispers in his ear and he says,” Sorry, I heard Trey Hendrickson and I thought it was three guys named Hendrickson, my bad, heh heh.”
They’d be smart not to resign Lamar to a long term deal if they actually want to win. Lamar hasn’t won anything important in his entire career, and now his health and speed are fading. He’s a terrible passer and as he slows down further, he’s going to have to rely on his passing.
Ray Lewis, Jamal Lewis, Ray Rice, Nestor Aparicio, Justin Tucker, Maxx Crosby…
What a cesspool.
Baltimore has been a cesspool long before the Ravens came to town. I would add a few other players:
Roderick Green: A back up/special teams player that most people won’t even remember, got kicked off the team after being involved in a fatal stabbing in a Randallstown bowling alley.
Alex Collins: A short term Raven running back that seemed to have a promising future, until he was caught doing a cocaine deal with a couple other roster bubble Ravens who were all kicked off the team. Collins I believe finished out that season and then was not retained by the Ravens after that. The Ravens needed a running back badly at the time.
Cory Redding: As a lot of players do, he was living in Owings Mills at the time. He decided it was a good idea to go out in the middle of the street, threaten a woman with violence because he thought her kid(s) were being too loud when they were playing.
Courtney Upshaw: A 2nd round pick and was thought to be a big deal playing opposite of Suggs, that never panned out. I was actually reporting for some major sports entities at the time and did an article about him after he had an abysmal game against the Browns where he was missing tackles, getting destroyed on the edge and letting up huge plays. He didn’t like that very much. So he had one of his old college goons contact me and try to insult me about never playing football and not knowing what I was talking about. I revealed to him what my real name is and where I played and he got quiet real quick. Courtney himself contacted me and essentially tried to tell me to never write anything about him again or else he and his crew would “deal with it.” Again, I told him who I really was, and told him, “why wait, you get yourself and whoever else you want and you can meet up with me and my guys and we’ll see how this plays out. I am going to write whatever I want and nobody is ever going to stop me other than God himself when he calls me home. ”
He had a terrible game the next week and I made sure I wrote about it. Didn’t hear a peep from him ever again.