Ravens shocker! Raiders' trade stance shifts as free agency frenzy ignites. Crosby's future hangs in the balance amid stunning deal collapse.
Well, Tuesday night saw a massive wrench thrown into the Las Vegas Raiders' plans.
Just days before free agency, the Raiders agreed to send Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for two first-round picks.
The Raiders then spent like crazy on Day 1 of free agency, landing big names including center Tyler Linderbaum and plenty of others.
However, in a stunning twist, the Ravens backed out of the trade on Tuesday night, as the Raiders announced on their social media page in a statement.
“The Baltimore Ravens have backed out of our trade agreement for Maxx Crosby. We will have no further comment at this time.”
Immediately after that, questions swirled regarding whether or not the Raiders will change their mind on the other free agent agreements, with Wednesday being the first day to sign players to the agreed-upon contracts.
But, it seems the Raiders intend to honor the contracts, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
"Source: The Raiders will honor all the agreements they made with free agents—both their own and the incoming guys—over the last 48 hours, despite the stunning developments of last night."
Breer also added that "all options" are in play with Crosby, even a chance that he stays in Las Vegas after all.
As of Wednesday morning, Crosby was back in Las Vegas at the facility.
Of course, this is the beauty of the NFL and the "legal tampering period." Players can agree to contracts, but that doesn't mean they can't end up changing their minds.
Teams can agree to trades, but again, they can reverse course, just like the Ravens did.
The Ravens then went and brought in Trey Hendrickson on a massive four-year deal, just hours after backing out of the Crosby agreement.
Now comes another question: Do the Raiders trade Crosby again? They got a package of two first-round picks from the Ravens, but it remains to be seen if another team is willing to pay that price.
Plus, perhaps the Raiders keep Crosby and add him to a loaded group of players they have just brought in to start free agency.
Nobody knows, but it's been a hectic 24 hours between Baltimore and Las Vegas. For now, Crosby is in Las Vegas again, the trade isn't going through, but the Raiders have no intentions of backing out of any of the deals they have already agreed to with the other free agents.