PHOENIX — Baltimore Ravens team president Sashi Brown said Monday that the rescinding of the Maxx Crosby trade won’t negatively affect the team’s reputation, chalking up the criticism to “a slow news cycle.”
“We’ve got strong and long relationships across the league,” Brown said at the annual league meeting. “We have emphasized the importance of doing things the right way. We’ll continue to do that. And we understand that it is a headline story because of its profile and significance. We believe our relationships, to the extent that you need time to repair them, people understand who we are and what we’re about.”
Brown added, “When you have high-profile transactions like this and opportunities like this, it’s unfortunate, but sometimes these things do happen — no fault of Maxx, ours or the Raiders. It’s just kind of how it played out.”
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On March 10, the Ravens backed out of a trade for Crosby that would have sent two first-round picks, including the No. 14 selection this year, to the Las Vegas Raiders. The deal, which was contingent on a physical, fell apart four days after the sides had agreed on the blockbuster move.
A source indicated the team had an issue after seeing imaging from Crosby’s physical, saying there was concern about his durability “because of a degenerative issue in his knee.” A day after nullifying the trade for Crosby, Baltimore quickly pivoted by signing four-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Trey Hendrickson to a four-year, $112 million deal that didn’t require giving up any draft capital.
Raiders general manager John Spytek said Monday that he doesn’t have an opinion on how the trade fell apart.
“Maxx is back like he never left,” Spytek said. “He’s working his ass off to get healthy, and he’ll be ready to rock by training camp, and we expect him to play a bunch of good football for many years to come.”
Brown doesn’t think the trade process or the two-day free agent negotiating period needs to be reworked because of what happened with Crosby.
“I think this is how it should be handled,” Brown said. “I really do. We’re not aiming for that result, but when you have a high stakes transaction like that, everybody needs to understand kind of what conditions you’re moving forward on.”
Spytek seemed more open to how offseason transitions are handled.
“Could you make a rule where you could trade anybody at any time, and you don’t have to wait for the start of the league year? Maybe,” Spytek said. “I think that’s what’s well above my pay grade, I think. And so, we’ll just operate within the rules and the confines of what they give us.”
Brown pointed out that another player wasn’t recently signed because of medical concerns. On Sunday, a source told ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi that the Cleveland Browns opted not to sign defensive end AJ Epenesa because the team was uncomfortable finalizing the deal after he had his physical.
“This is not the first time it’s going to happen. It will not be the last,” Brown said. “So I think everybody wants to be prudent throughout processes and it’s unfortunate and rare, especially in a high-profile case like this, but that’s why the processes are in place.”
Soon after the Ravens rescinded the trade, Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta pushed back on the narrative that the team had second thoughts about acquiring Crosby.
Brown acknowledged there has been criticism from the Crosby fallout that has been misconstrued and mischaracterized.
“We wouldn’t get into that publicly, honestly,” Brown said. “And we understand the need to report on these high-profile cases. We’re going to trust ourselves and have a ton of respect for Maxx and treat all this with the right privacy and respect and dignity that it deserves.”
ESPN’s Ryan McFadden contributed to this report.
