A block buster trade came across NFL fans screens Friday night as star pass rusher and 2x second-team All-Pro Maxx Crosby was traded to the Baltimore Ravens for two first round picks (2026 and 2027). ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news Friday night, five days before NFL free agency officially starts on March 11th at 4 p.m. ET. This trade has sent endless ripples throughout the league and social media as a whole, given the magnitude that Crosby brings to a defense, specifically his ability to get to and effect the quarterback. In his final season in the silver and black, Crosby recorded 45 solo tackles, 10 sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception.
Since being drafted by the Raiders in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Crosby recorded 439 total tackles, 278 solo and 161 assisted, 69.5 sacks, forced 11 fumbles, and one interception. Crosby’s seven seasons with the Raiders saw Crosby play at an All-Pro level in 2021 and 2023, receiving second-team honors and being elected to five-straight Pro Bowls while only making one playoff appearance with the team in 2021. To accompany the one playoff appearance, the Raiders went through five head coaches, had four different general managers due to having five losing seasons.
This is a massive trade for the Raiders who now have two first round picks in the upcoming Draft in April, picks 1 and 14, while the Ravens finally pull through on a splash trade after continually being in these sorts of talks every free agency period. For the first time in the Ravens 31-year history, the franchise used a first-round pick to trade for a player. When you think about that sentence it is incredible to think how the Ravens have sustained their success with being a Super Bowl contender by building through the draft and not spending big money or draft capital on players, until Friday night.
The Ravens needed a star pass rusher like Maxx Crosby, especially after the struggles the team had this past season getting to the quarterback. Baltimore recorded its fewest sacks in a season in their last 15 years so this move to bring in Crosby now seems like a no brainer. It makes me wonder if this trade would have happened if John Harbaugh was still the head coach but with the firing of Harbaugh and a massive trade like this, you can tell the Ravens front office is in win now mode more than ever.
Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals will continue to have his hands full in the AFC North as he now has to play Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, and TJ Watt twice a season along with one of if not the worst offensive line in the league trying to stop those three. For teams in Crosby’s former division the AFC West, Broncos head coach Sean Payton texted Crosby and told him he’d pay for a private flight straight to Baltimore since he was so happy he was no longer in the division. Expect Crosby to flourish in the Ravens defense and I would not be surprised to see Baltimore in the AFC Championship next season if Lamar Jackson and the Ravens can stay healthy.
