The story that continues to create a slew of takes and counter-takes throughout the NFL ecosystem was a direct product of the existing system for doing trades before the league year opens.
With no deal done until both teams have communicated identical terms to the league office, any deal negotiated before the start of the league year can be abandoned, by either team at any time.
The Ravens, or the Raiders, could have pulled the plug. For any reason, or no reason at all.
The problem here was the specific timing of the tentative deal. It was reported on the Friday night before the start of free agency on Monday. It should have been done sooner, allowing for the physical to be accomplished in time for the Ravens to make a final decision.
Along those lines, the Raiders should have demanded that any and all conditions that needed to be met before the agreement was reached were satisfied ASAFP.
Crosby went to Baltimore on Tuesday, the second day of the signing period. It should have happened on Saturday, so that everyone would have known whether the deal was getting done before the negotiating period opened.
Most importantly, no one should have said a damn thing about the potential trade until the Ravens had all the information they needed to proceed, both as to Crosby’s knee and as to his financial expectations, if any. That has happened with other trades. No one said a word about the possibility of a trade until the physical was passed.
Through it all, the Raiders should have realized that the specific timeline (Friday night agreement, Tuesday physical) created a window for the Ravens to “back out” of the deal after the Raiders had committed millions to impending free agents under the assumption that Crosby’s $30 million salary for 2026 was coming off the books.
It also gave the Ravens a chance (whether they intended it or not) to monitor the market and to allow the availability of, say, Trey Hendrickson to influence the go or no-go call.
As to Hendrickson, the Ravens got lucky that he wanted more than the market was willing to bear. If he’d been more realistic about his objectives on Monday, Hendrickson would have been long gone before the Ravens pivoted to him.
Everyone knew Crosby had surgery in January. Everyone knew it was a repair, not a trim, of the meniscus. Everyone knew that, before any trade could be finalized, the new team had to feel comfortable about the medical information. And everyone involved in this failed transaction — the Raiders, the Ravens, and Crosby himself (who posted a 13-minute farewell, Raiders/hello, Ravens video on Saturday afternoon) — should have handled it much differently.
The system allows this specific outcome. All parties should have factored that reality into the way the situation unfolded.
