Baltimore Ravens News & Rumors

Trades cannot be official until the 2026 league year begins Wednesday, and the Raiders dropped a bombshell about their recent blockbuster. The Maxx Crosby deal is off, according to the Raiders.

The Raiders said in a statement the Ravens have backed out of the trade. Baltimore was to send two first-round picks to Las Vegas for the All-Pro edge rusher. Crosby had expressed excitement about being traded to the Ravens, but per the AFC West franchise, the deal is off.

“The Baltimore Ravens have backed out of our trade agreement for Maxx Crosby. We will have no further comment at this time,” the Las Vegas statement reads.

All trades are pending physicals, and Crosby is recovering from much-publicized knee surgery. Crosby failed his Ravens physical today at the team facility, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports. A month ago a report surfaced indicating Crosby underwent a full meniscus repair, rather than a trim. The eighth-year edge rusher’s recovery is expected to be measured in months, not weeks. The Ravens undoubtedly knew this, but upon examining Crosby, it appears we have one of the highest-profile instances of cold feet in NFL history.

The Ravens were to send their No. 14 overall pick and their 2027 first for the disgruntled Crosby, who is on a through-2029 contract. However, everything looks to be up in the air. Based on the Raiders releasing a statement, it would be rather unusual if the sides put the trade back on course.

Crosby, 28, never officially requested a trade but it had become well known he wanted to be dealt to a contending team. And SI.com’s Albert Breer reports Crosby did request a move privately. Crosby voiced frustration — to put it mildly — at the Raiders shutting him down with a knee injury he believed he could play through. Reports of Crosby evaluating his future escalated into full-blown trade rumors. The Raiders were believed to be setting too high a price, — as a desire for a Micah Parsons-like haul surfaced at multiple points — but a bidding war took place around the Combine.

The Cowboys were believed to be prepared to send the Raiders a first-round pick and a second, but the Ravens won the derby — as of Friday night, at least — with a two-first-rounder proposal. The Jaguars joined the Bears as other teams in the mix. The Bengals and Eagles looked to tip their toes in the water here, per Breer, though it does not appear either was too near the front of the line. The Bills were interested as well, Breer adds, but the Raiders did not deem their first-round pick being valuable enough to be the centerpiece of a trade package.

It does not look like the Bears were a frontline suitor, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, but the Cowboys were believed to be willing to include a player in a trade along with the first- and second-round picks. Dallas is now sounding open to trading D-tackle Osa Odighizuwa, after trading for both Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark following that March 2025 re-signing, but Fowler adds the Cowboys set limits — based on its Williams trade package — about how far they would go for this particular player.

In Crosby’s stealth trade request, Breer indicates he expressed a desire to work with the Raiders for the team to obtain the best possible deal from a contender. That is perhaps why no official trade request became public. The Raiders retained some leverage this way, even though the tea leaves pointed to a move transpiring. The Seahawks and Patriots loomed as suitors as well, though a source told Fowler minority owner Tom Brady is not expected to entertain a deal with the Patriots.

This also puts the Raiders in a tighter spot. Although the team carried an NFL-leading cap-space figure into free agency, that was contingent on Crosby’s 2026 cap number being off the books. The Raiders have run wild in free agency, adding several starters — most notably with a record-smashing accord for Ravens Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum — to prepare for the arrival of Fernando Mendoza‘s rookie deal. Las Vegas was to hold the No. 14 pick to supplement its incoming quarterback as well. Now, a fascinating pivot will need to take place.

The Raiders also added Kwity Paye, Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean and Jalen Nailor on Monday. None of these moves can be announced until the new league year begins at 3pm CT Wednesday. This waiting period usually is a nonfactor, as players almost always follow through on their commitments. But failed physicals are certainly nothing new. This one will go down in trade infamy, though, due to the two-first-rounder return the Raiders were to receive.

Even with this shocking turn of events technically placing Crosby’s 2026 cap number back on the Raiders’ payroll, it is unlikely the team would bail on its Day 1 FA deals. The Raiders will seemingly proceed to another team here. Though, it is quite possible a 2027 first-rounder will not be attainable.

Another team could pass Crosby on a physical, but he is going into an age-29 season. That has long made it iffy in terms of a two-first-rounder haul, as Parsons and Khalil Mack were respectively swapped at 26 and 27. That said, both those All-Pros required new contracts. Crosby was set to play on his 2025 Raiders extension, helping the Raiders secure their desired trade return.

Crosby viewed the Raiders as sitting him in order to secure the No. 1 pick, and Breer adds that while a meeting with Klint Kubiak went well, it did not move the needle with regard to the impact edge rusher wanting to stay. GM John Spytek said at the Combine the Raiders planned on retaining Crosby, but it is not exactly stunning to see such an about-face occur based on Combine pressers. And a report soon after had the Raiders warming to a trade.

The Raiders also did a deal with a team that, as our Ely Allen pointed out, had never traded a future first-round pick for a player in its 30-year history. The Ravens also are not usually big spenders at edge rusher, having mostly used low-cost vets and first-rounder Odafe Oweh since Matt Judon‘s 2021 departure.

Considering what a typically risk-averse franchise was giving up, trepidation regarding Crosby’s knee rehab makes sense. Still, the Raiders needing to go back to the drawing board four days after reaching the trade agreement represents one of the crazier developments in modern NFL history. The Ravens backed out of a deal with wide receiver Ryan Grant in 2018 and, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter points out, a contract with safety Brock Marion was nixed on Baltimore’s end in 1997. Eric DeCosta was in his first offseason as Ravens GM when the Grant backtrack occurred.

While Terrell Owens did not fail a physical back in 2004 — when an arbitrator called off a Baltimore-San Francisco trade, leading the future Hall of Fame receiver to Philadelphia — this Crosby non-trade will remind of that near-miss. Observing where a second Crosby trade market goes, and how Baltimore fills its EDGE need (after ranking 30th in the NFL in sacks last season), will be must-follow storylines for NFL fans moving forward.