The deal to send star defensive end Maxx Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens is off, with the Las Vegas Raiders announcing in a stunning statement Tuesday evening that the Ravens “backed out of our trade agreement.”
The trade was scuttled after Crosby, who has been in Baltimore since earlier this week, failed his physical, league sources told The Athletic.
The teams on Friday agreed to a trade to send Crosby to the Ravens for two first-round picks. All NFL trades require players involved to pass a physical before becoming official. Trades can be agreed to but not finalized until the opening of the new league year, which arrives Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
In a statement, the Raiders said they would have no further comment. The Ravens did not immediately comment.
Crosby, who turns 29 in August, is recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, which ended his 2025 season but was not expected to impact his availability for the 2026 season.
Teams that were interested in trading for Crosby, including the Ravens, had conversations with his surgeon, Neal ElAttrache, and the Raiders’ medical staff before making trade offers.
The Ravens’ doctors — along with multiple independent ones — reviewed Crosby’s MRI. They were unified in the belief that Crosby’s short-term outlook was positive, but there were concerns about the long-term prognosis of Crosby’s knee, per league sources.
Baltimore believed the risk was too high given the compensation it was giving up.
In a statement posted to X late Tuesday, Crosby’s agent, CJ LaBoy, said Crosby “continues to be on track in his recovery and if anything is ahead of schedule according to his surgeon Dr Neal El Attrache. 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.”
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, ElAttrache said the player “is doing very well in the early part of his rehab,” and 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.”
A five-time Pro Bowler, Crosby was selected by the Raiders in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. He developed into the face of the franchise and one of the league’s best defensive players. He long said he wanted “to be a Raider for life,” and he signed two huge contract extensions with the team in the last five years. On Saturday, he posted a video to X in which he said he felt like he let down Raiders fans. The post appears to have been deleted.
Crosby’s relationship with the Raiders’ franchise soured after they placed him on injured reserve in December, with speculation that the team was trying to lose to ensure it got the first pick in the NFL Draft. Crosby wanted to keep playing through his knee injury and left the team facility frustrated, then returned days later.
As reported by The Athletic’s Vic Tafur, owner Mark Davis went to Crosby’s house in January, with the two agreeing that a trade was best for both sides.
The Ravens had agreed to send the No. 14 pick in this year’s draft and their 2027 first-round pick to the Raiders for Crosby, outbidding the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars, among other interested teams, league sources said.
The Cowboys are not expected to re-engage in Crosby trade discussions, league sources told The Athletic.
It’s not the first time that a failed physical on the Ravens’ end has scuttled a move. In 2018, they agreed to a four-year, $29 million deal with free-agent wide receiver Ryan Grant. However, the Ravens failed his physical because of concerns about his ankle, nullifying the deal.
Two years later, they reached a verbal agreement on a three-year, $30 million deal with free-agent defensive tackle Michael Brockers. Yet, members of the team’s medical staff would not sign off on the deal because of concerns about his ankle.
The Ravens now have their two first-round picks back, but general manager Eric DeCosta and his team are in a tough spot. The trade for Crosby, which marked the first time Baltimore had ever given up a first-rounder in a trade for a player, was expected to fill the team’s biggest need and yield its biggest offseason prize.
Now, the Ravens are without a major defensive difference maker at a time when they have watched nine of their unrestricted free agents agree to deals with other teams while signing only one (guard John Simpson).
Crosby has 69.5 sacks and 133 tackles for loss in his seven years with the Raiders, but he has made only one playoff appearance. The Raiders have gone through five head coaches over that span.
The three-year, $106.5 million contract extension Crosby signed last March was loaded with guarantees but not a signing bonus, allowing the Raiders to trade him with a dead-cap charge of only $5.1 million. He has four years and $115.8 million remaining on his deal, which runs through 2029.
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