After the infamous deal falling through with the Ravens, Maxx Crosby is expected to remain with the Raiders for the foreseeable future, but it seems like Crosby’s long-term future in Las Vegas still has some uncertainty.
An ESPN report on Tuesday, which included information from Las Vegas beat writer Ryan McFadden and national insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, suggested the Ravens weren’t necessarily concerned with Crosby’s short-term recovery, but feared that he might have chronic issues in the future.
“The consensus was that Crosby would be able to play in 2026,” the report said. “The Ravens’ concern centered on the uncertainty of Crosby’s durability after a couple of seasons in Baltimore because of a degenerative issue in his knee, a source told ESPN.”
The perceived “degenerative issue” in Crosby’s knee would have presumably been something the Ravens knew about in advance, but there’s a high probability that Baltimore wasn’t as interested in taking on that risk when Trey Hendrickson became an option.
Listening to Crosby’s account last week, it sounded like he said he never met with Ravens’ GM Eric DeCosta during his Baltimore visit, but someone within the Ravens organization responded to Crosby’s account and told ESPN that DeCosta did meet with Crosby toward the end of the visit.
“A source indicated Minter and other defensive coaches met with Crosby within minutes of him walking into the team facility,” the ESPN report said. “DeCosta, who was trying to keep his own free agents and sign others on the first day of the legal tampering period, met with Crosby later that afternoon.”
As Crosby said on his podcast, we might not ever get the truth about what really happened with the botched deal, but it certainly seems like the situation changed in Baltimore when Hendrickson became an option. The Ravens made the decision to back out of the trade for Crosby, and it might be worth keeping in mind that Crosby’s own surgeon described his injury as a “significant” meniscus tear.
For now, if there are long-term concerns around Crosby’s knee, the Raiders appear willing to take on that risk, and Crosby is as motived as ever to prove his doubters wrong.
Assuming Crosby and the Raiders will be able to keep their vows beyond the 2026 season, the Ravens are scheduled to travel to Las Vegas in 2027. As it stands right now, that will be an intriguing game to watch.
x: @raidersbeat
Think about what your report avers. Now taking what your report suggests and then thinking about the fact that the well known n respected doctor that performed surgery upon Crosbys knee came out publicly stating that Crosbys surgery went well n he is on schedule to complete recovery as is usually the case with this type of injury. Then use a little common sense and after bypassing why Ravens would need to inquire with any other doctors (knowing the level of respect the doctor performing surgery possesses) and getting over the fact that any such inquiries would probably occur prior to making deal because common sense tells you that they could not know whether the repaired knee will suffer any degenerative or arthritis at this point (any possible degenerative issue would already be known prior to surgery and doctor would never make public statement containing lies ruining his reputation.) Then get passed the strange fact that neither GM or anyone of importance met with Crosby after having him and his family basically fly across country thinking they are relocating and the fact that they were negotiating with Hendrickson hoping a deal could be reached and they could save their picks. Try publishing something that makes sense because it is clear as day what occurred here.
1. FERNANDO MENDOZA
36. MAX IHEANACHOR
67. DANI DENNIS-SUTTON
102. ANTONIO WILLIAMS
117. NICHOLAS SINGLETON
134. ZANE DURANT
175. TACARIO DAVIS
185. RED MURDOCK
208. BISHOP FITZGERALD
219. ERIC GENTRY
1. Jeremiyah Love
36. Drew Allar
67. D’Angelo Ponds
102. Malachi Fields
117. Jonah Coleman
134. Max Llewellyn
175. Unathetic Safety ST Only Guy
185. Red Murdock (good pick)
208. Take a Long Snapper
219. Aiden Fischer
You guys like my mock draft? I modeled it after the philosophies of the greatest football mind of our time, Jon Gruden, and countless hours of waking up (some would say I never went to bed after hitting the meth for 3 days straight) at 4 AM to grind tape.
His recovery from surgery could very well be ahead of schedule, yet his one issue could very well be degenerative. Those two things are not mutually exclusive, nor do I think they’re particularly uncommon. It’s perfectly likely Maxx makes a full recovery from this specific tear, but has a higher chance of re-injury going forward.
Did the Ravens pay dirty pool? Probably. Did Spytek get played for a rube for not insisting the deal not be conditioned on a physical everyone knew he couldn’t pass? Probably
Spytek’s only mistake was not insisting the physical be completed in 48 hours. It should have been off the books by the beginning of FA. They were worried about his status 3 years down the road? Duh, he will be 33 year old defensive lineman that’s been chopped blocked (usually illegally) his whole career. They wanted him for 2 year window Superbowl window. It’s not worth two #1 picks, but that’s the deal they made. Ravens have earned their Rep.
Thank you! U’ve taken A LOT of flack from unreasonable people that just can’t seem to grasp the issue with requesting the physical BEFORE the start of FA.
Raiders sill peddling Maxx.