Maxx Crosby is back with the Las Vegas Raiders following the Baltimore Ravens’ surprising decision to nix their trade for the star edge rusher, and he might be staying there for the foreseeable future.
Crosby is ready to play for the Raiders again as he resumed his rehab at the team’s facility on Wednesday, NFL Media reported. The five-time Pro Bowler flew back to Las Vegas overnight after he failed his physical with the Ravens in Baltimore on Tuesday, which came two months after he underwent surgery for a meniscus tear.
[NFL Confidential: League Execs Not Happy with Ravens After Nixing Maxx Crosby Trade]
Shortly after the news broke that the Ravens were calling off the deal, Crosby’s agent, CJ LaBoy, downplayed concerns about his client’s knee.
“Maxx continues to be on track in his recovery and if anything is ahead of schedule, according to his surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache,” LaBoy wrote on X. “Maxx remains on track to return during the offseason program and will undoubtedly return as the dominant game wrecker he has been these past 7 seasons.”
As for the Ravens, they’ve already moved on from Crosby. They reportedly agreed to a deal with Trey Hendrickson, giving the top edge rusher on the free-agent market a four-year, $112 million deal.
So, all eyes turn back to the Raiders and Crosby. How will the two parties navigate the days and weeks ahead? Here are the latest rumors surrounding Crosby.
Cowboys not interested in Maxx Crosby
When Tuesday’s news of the Maxx Crosby trade being called off broke, many presumed that the Dallas Cowboys would be the frontrunner to land him. However, it doesn’t appear that a Crosby-to-Dallas trade will happen.
The Cowboys are unlikely to revisit the possibility of trading for Crosby, a league source told our Ralph Vacchiano.
Dallas made a notable move to add an edge rusher in the days between the Crosby trade being agreed upon and falling through. It added edge rusher Rashan Gary from the Green Bay Packers, agreeing to that trade on Monday.
What will it cost to land Crosby?
The Raiders initially agreed to trade Crosby to the Ravens for two first-round picks, including the 14th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. After Baltimore’s decision to nix the Crosby trade, Las Vegas is hoping another team is willing to cough up a similar package for the star edge rusher.
Teams interested in Crosby sense that the Raiders won’t move off their asking price of two first-round picks, The Athletic reported Wednesday.
In the weeks leading up to the Raiders’ agreed-upon trade with the Ravens, it was rumored that it would take multiple first-round picks to land Crosby. FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer even reported that the Raiders would receive a package similar to the one the Cowboys got from the Packers for edge rusher Micah Parsons. In that deal, Dallas got two first-round picks plus defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
Raiders plan to honor free-agent agreements
The Raiders certainly operated as if Crosby was no longer with the team on the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period. They agreed to deals with a handful of free agents that totaled $183 million in guaranteed money.
Now, Las Vegas has to account for Crosby’s $35.7 million cap hit on top of that, potentially creating a conundrum for the Raiders. But the Raiders are planning to honor the free-agent agreements they made ahead of the start of the new league year at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, when those deals can be made official, Sports Illustrated reported.
Former Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum was the most notable addition the Raiders made on the opening day of free agency, giving him a three-year, $81 million deal. The Raiders also agreed to deals with linebacker Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker, defensive end Malcolm Koonce, defensive end Kwity Paye, cornerback Eric Stokes, wide receiver Jalen Nailor and kicker Matt Gay.
Crosby spending time at Raiders’ facility
Crosby went back to Las Vegas right after the news broke that the Ravens were no longer trading for him. The star edge rusher was at the Raiders’ facilities at 6 a.m. PT on Wednesday, with members of the organization reaching out to him shortly after the news broke, Sports Illustrated reported.
Crosby was in Baltimore when the news broke on Tuesday that the Ravens pulled out of the deal. He had taken his physical at the Ravens’ facility earlier in the day, with the expectation that the trade would be made official when the new league year began on Wednesday. Crosby had also shared images of himself in Baltimore earlier in the day before posting an image of himself on a plane, presumably back to Las Vegas.
Doctors outside of the Ravens’ organization examined Crosby’s knee
While the Ravens ultimately decided that Crosby failed his physical, they consulted independent doctors ahead of the decision to nix the trade, The Athletic reported Wednesday. In those examinations, it was determined that Crosby wouldn’t have any short-term issues with his knee, but long-term issues lingered, according to The Athletic.
One of the non-team doctors that the team consulted was Cowboys team doctor Dr. Daniel Cooper, ESPN reported. Cooper was actually the doctor who performed Patrick Mahomes’ recent ACL surgery.
Ravens GM ‘gutted’ over nixed deal, wanted to sign Crosby and Hendrickson
Could you imagine how good the Ravens’ pass rush would’ve been if they followed through with the Maxx Crosby trade and still signed Trey Hendrickson? Well, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said the team was hoping to add both players this offseason.
In a press conference on Wednesday, DeCosta insisted that the team didn’t sign Hendrickson just because they missed out on Crosby. He also wanted to dispel the notion that they nixed the Crosby trade because Hendrickson was still available on the free-agent market.
“I didn’t really look at him as like, ‘Oh, we’ll do this because of that,’” DeCosta said. “It was really more, ‘How do we get better as a football team?’ In terms of Trey, I think we came to a point probably after we lost Tyler, where as we’re trying to find the best way for us to get better as a football team, Trey kind of made a lot of sense as a possible guy to look it. So, we started some discussions with he and his agent, thinking that potentially we could have two pass rushers on the defensive line, on both sides of the line.
“Again, I think it was disappointing to us, and probably in a way, potentially disappointing, probably to Trey as well.”
While the Ravens were able to add a star pass rusher on Wednesday, DeCosta still expressed his disappointment that the Crosby trade didn’t go down.
“Nobody’s more upset about this than me — gutted by it, actually,” DeCosta said. “And so a regret, a big regret for me, but we will move on as a football team.”
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