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 agreed to a trade on Friday that would send Crosby to the Ravens in exchange 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 their 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 knee surgery that ended his 2025 season, but it was not expected to impact his availability for the 2026 season. He had planned to play through the issue before the Raiders shut him down for the final two games, causing a rift that led Crosby to seek a trade.
The Ravens agreed to send No. 14 in this year’s draft and their 2027 first-round pick 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, the Ravens 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 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 the Ravens had ever given up a first-rounder in a trade for a player, was expected to fill the team’s biggest need and yield their 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, a five-time Pro Bowler, was selected by the then-Oakland Raiders in the fourth round of the 2019 draft and 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.
Yet, his relationship with the franchise soured after the Raiders 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 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.
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.