Defensive end Maxx Crosby is back in the last place he expected to be after the trade that sent him to the Baltimore Ravens fell apart, and both the Las Vegas Raiders and Crosby’s agent issued statements about Crosby’s medicals after Cosby failed his physical.
Both the Raiders and Crosby have shifted gears, with Crosby now rehabbing in the Raiders facility, and his mindset is now to play for the Raiders, according to Ian Rappaport of NFL Network via a piece by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. It’s still possible that Crosby could be traded, but it’s unclear whether any other team would be willing to give up a pair of first round picks, and there have been reports that the Dallas Cowboys have backed out of the running, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
Meanwhile, statements have been issued, with this one coming from Crosby’s surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, told ESPN that Crosby is back on track in his recovery. The injury was originally reported as a meniscus tear.
“Maxx Crosby is doing very well in the early part of his rehab and recovery from surgery to treat a significant meniscus tear and the related stress injury to the bone and cartilage in his knee. He is certainly on track in his planned program. . . . He feels very well and is already much improved compared to before surgery,” ElAttrache said.
“We truly respect the work of the Ravens staff with Maxx regarding the contract physical exam,” the surgeon added. “We also understand the challenge the staff faces when tasked to provide a future risk assessment based on an evaluation early in the recovery process. This is especially challenging when dealing with an elite player like Maxx considering the level of commitment necessary for a team to obtain him. The timing of this assessment is unfortunate because the apparent risk will lessen as his recovery progresses and his return to performance over the next few months becomes clear.”
Mike Silver of The Athletic also did a followup report, saying “the Raiders did get screwed” in this deal, even though the Ravens are within their rights to rescind the trade. Every team has a different risk-assessment protocol with regard to medical issues, and Silver suggested that the surgery may have revealed the possibility of cartilage damage, which has much more serious implications in the long-term recovery.
Crosby’s agent, C.J. LaBoy, also issued a statement that backed up the surgeon, which wasn’t exactly surprising.
“Maxx continues to be on track in his recovery and if anything is ahead of schedule according to his surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Maxx remains on track to return during the offseason program & will undoubtedly return as the dominant game wrecker he has been these past 7 seasons.”
We’ll probably never know if buyer’s remorse was part of this for the Ravens, but Silver also anonymously quoted a “high-ranking executive” who indicated that the Raiders are in a bad spot, even if they make the best of a tough situation and Las Vegas is able to reconcile completely with Crosby.
“I don’t know what they do now,” said one high-ranking executive for a team that previously talked to the Raiders about potentially acquiring Crosby. “I don’t know how they walk it back. There’s no way to spin it positively. This is really bad for them.”
Another quoted executive said the Raiders won’t get a pair of first-round picks now, and that source also suggested the possibility that the future first-rounder that was in the original deal could be converted to a third-rounder if Crosby misses a certain number of games in 2026.
Silver also presented the perspective of any GM making a subsequent trade, which is that Crosby now comes with what the writer referred to as a glaring “buyer beware” warning. That GM could trade for Crosby, then watch helplessly if Crosby remains “significantly debilitated” by the knee and never comes close to regaining Pro Bowl form.
“If that happens,” the executive said, “you’re done.”
The one issue Silver didn’t address was the available cap space that went into the extensive moves the Raiders made on Monday during the first day of free agency. Las Vegas was almost certainly counting on the cap space cleared out by the Crosby deal to make at least a couple of those moves, and it’s fair to speculate that the Raiders could ask the league for some kind of redress to reduce or eliminate this inequity.
Either way, these statements represent the first steps in the resolution of this situation for the Raiders. They’re probably making the right moves with Crosby for the moment, but whether that will hold up remains to be seen. A reworked version of the trade could also emerge, and a completely new deal with another team is possible, although less likely at this point.