The Baltimore Ravens shocked the NFL when they agreed to trade for edge rusher Maxx Crosby. Then the Ravens shocked everyone again by backing out of the trade after Crosby failed his physical. Now NFL executives are taking aim at Baltimore with accusations of acting in bad faith.
The Athletic's Mike Sando shared quotes from league executives in a recent article. Multiple executives seemed to suggest that Baltimore acted in bad faith by slow-playing Crosby's physical.
“I don’t think we’ll ever find out the answer,” an exec from another team said. “I would not put it past them to agree to this trade and then slow-play the physical.”
One executive argued that, if the Ravens really wanted Crosby, they would have acted swiftly to get a physical evaluation done. They would not have waited days to complete it.
“If you really wanted the guy, you would get him in there for his physical as soon as possible,” another exec said. “You would pull your doctors off whatever they were doing. That’s easy. It was advantageous for the Ravens to slow-play the physical and keep open their options. That is why I believe the narrative.”
As it stands, many around the NFL believe that Baltimore dragged their feet because they were exploring other options. It certainly looks suspicious that they immediately signed Trey Hendrickson after backing out of the deal.
“My point is, the Ravens didn’t get cold feet,” another exec said. “They wanted one high-quality edge rusher, and they felt Maxx Crosby, like most people did, was the best one available, and he was worth two first-round picks, presuming they could not get Hendrickson.”
Hopefully the Ravens can eventually shake off the stink of the failed Crosby trade. But it may require a lot of time to pass first.
