Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Ravens back out of the trade for Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris reacted to the Ravens backing out of a trade agreement to acquire star defensive end Maxx Crosby from the Raiders after Crosby failed their physical.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 The Score, and we were all left wondering late last night. What happened? How on earth did we get to the point where the Raiders are issuing the Womp-Wamp-Wamp full-screen graphic that says, The Ravens have backed out of the trade for Max Crosby. There will be no further comments at this time. See, what had happened at first were. I feel like it really was a, situation of you see what had happened was because that's how it felt.

Depending on how these two teams go forward, the 30 for 30 on this is going to be amazing. Like at the rate, what if the Ravens win the Super Bowl this year? I'm pretty sure the, uh, the medicals won't let the 30 for 30 happen because that's what it sounds like. Uh, it, I had so many questions last night, but I had one thought. And my first thought was, oh, Trey Hendrickson's still out. here and Max Crosby costs two first-round picks. And regardless of whether it's a medical thing or not, because you know, you can pass, fail, a physical, whatever, my initial thought,

Layla, was like, they're definitely going after Trey Hendrickson. And Trey Hendriss is just still sitting out here so they'll probably get him if they give him anything close to what he is actually seeking. So that's the part of this is I think we all put our GM hats on and we all understood the assignment. Number one, Max Crosby set the market as the pass rusher. Marshall has now put on a hat. It's kind of, we could say it's a GM hat in theory. It's really the marathon record hat, which is really cool that Kerry Pankowski got you. To be clear, I do not hold the record for any marathons as I have not run a marathon. But they do record the men's and women's world records that were achieved at the Chicago Marathon. So the point is, he has put his elite hat

on, if you will. But that's it. Max Crosby set the market. There's a reason we all talked about him ad nauseum. Are we even to the point of nauseam? Yeah, I don't think we are because it's still out there.

There's still, so you're telling me there's still a chance. Max. Max. Jones might be in the mix. The zombie Ray and Tyler Max Crosby Horde is back. The Max and East is

just walk around Max. Collectively. Max. Collectively. The Maxisistas are out here. People are alive in this scenario. Like The Undertaker and the GIF. That's what they are.

Your hopes for Max Crosby are the Undertaker. Yes. Bring me Max Crosby. And what? What? At a discounted rate? Bring me Max Crosby. So the guy who set the market suddenly was theoretically back on the market.

So what did that mean for Trey Hendrickson, who was a known commodity at this point and didn't have as questionable of a surgery, but, did still have the core muscle issue and the surgery that happened there. But you knew a little bit more about what you were getting. Core muscle as opposed to a knee, that makes it a little bit different of calculus. We knew Trey Hendrickson was the next best guy. We also knew the price on Trey Hendrickson, as opposed to Crosby, where we knew his salary at the cap hit being about $35.8 million, but we didn't know which teams wanted to give up the

two first rounders, all the L'a, the Micah Parsons package. So then the next best guy is still out there, kind of like the draft board next best available. And lo and behold, my first thought was Trey Hendrickson gets the bag now, right? Like he becomes the guy with the crown. He is now the best available. And then we get the news this morning. In fact, the Raiders and the Ravens both had a plan B. And the Ravens' plan B was Trey Hendrickson.

Not just Trey Hendrickson, but Trey Hendrickson for a deal that's, reportedly worth $112 million with incentives up to $120. And if you do the math on that, that's that magical $30 million per year number that Trey Hendrickson said he was not selling for anything less. Well, and that's it. So what number gets you to sign the deal that you want? But take advantage of timing and take advantage of timing Trey Hendrickson did. And the incentives are really important here because I think they sweetened the deal

when it comes to his age. It's just good negotiating. For people concerned about Trey Hendrickson's age, because he is older than Max Crosby, how is that going to shake out? And it does. He gets the deal he wanted. However, I don't think the Raiders are going to get the one they want now after this. I would be shocked if they got two first rounders, especially, now it might be different

if this goes on and on, but the problem is the draft exists. And if you don't do a deal before the draft, you become slightly vulnerable. Like we saw what happened with the Cowboys. If they had done that deal before the draft to trade away Michael Parsons, they would have gotten more for Michael Parsons. The Cowboys' timing has always been poor. That's fair. I mean, they operate with poor timing. Very late lately trying to get to that whole NFC championship thing.

Think about the concept of franchise tagging George Pickens. And if they had extended him, that would have given them a lot more space to work with to free up more cap money because they were $56 million over. But timing is important in this. We've talked about Quasi Daufermenza. Why did Sam Darnal dictate the Vikings' timing on his firing? So that said, Trey Hendrickson, your second favorite pass rusher is now off the board. And in the meantime, there are domino effects from this. It's the cap money that's available.

It's understanding that a lot of teams, once they thought Max Crosby was off the board, went to their respective plan B's. And I think that's why Marshall, you and I talked about a lot of other pass rushers immediately going off the board. Adafé OA comes to mind, you know, as somebody who we thought the bears might focus on. Their prices respectively went up because of timing and teams motivated to make sure they got who they wanted. So let's listen to what Tom Pelliserro said when it came to what happened. At this point, I would say this, the reaction from other people within the NFL that I am getting is predominantly about how the Ravens pulled the rug out,

regardless of what their reasoning was. This just does not happen. It has happened on multiple other occasions in the past on much smaller trades or agreements involving the Ravens. However, when you're talking about trading two first-round picks, this is not an unknown issue with Max Crosby. Everyone knew he had a knee injury. Everyone knew he finished on injured reserve.

Everyone knew, based on Ian's reporting, that he had a meniscus surgery that was actually not just a trim, but a meniscus repair that has a longer term type of a timeline. But that did not stop several teams from offering a first-round pick and more as part of a trade offer. It did not stop the Ravens from offering two first-round picks. This is not a situation where you put in a bid in an online auction. Then if you don't like the item, you return it via Amazon.

This is a trade involving a superstar player in the NFL. Clearly, they came to the conclusion that there was something, they were not comfortable with. And again, it does bear mentioning. 32 teams, 32 doctors, 32 degrees of risk tolerance. Well, one team might be willing to accept, whether it's in the draft process,

a free agent signing, a trade, is something that another team might say, we're simply not going to go there. That's why every year, and we're going through the pre-draft process right now, you'll hear about players having medical flags. There might be 31 teams who say, we won't pass this guy.

We won't put a uniform on them. But if one team is willing to do it, then that player is going to play in the NFL. Max Crosby is a known commodity with a known injury. Clearly something happened. He was in Baltimore today posting on social media, obviously went through a medical process, after which the Ravens, for one reason or another,

and again, to your point, we have not heard from the Ravens to this point. The Ravens decided we are not following through with this trade. It does not happen often in the NFL. It definitely does not happen at this level. this type of a blockbuster trade. Max Crosby, once again, is on the Raiders. He is right back on the trade block.

Other teams, again, I will emphasize this, the Cowboys would remain interested. They were the runner up to the Ravens. Other teams that I'm calling, I'm missing the calls right now from other teams trying to figure out what's going on because all the other pass rushers have gotten agreements to the Ravens now

who didn't get a pass rusher, try to flip one of those players that agreed to a deal someplace else because now they need another pass rusher for that defense. There are so many different tentacles to this. We never see this happen. It is going to be a free agency frenzy that has now gone into a physical frenzy.

How about that, Patrick Claibon on a Tuesday night? Physical frenzy. Wow. Double challenge, physical challenge. I like the double entendre there with physical frenzy because obviously he allegedly did not pass a physical. And now things might get physical between all these teams. But I think he's right to point out, this may not know. necessarily be about whether or not you think Max Crosby is a good decision to have him on

her team or pick up the $35 million salary cap hit. This may be about how injured is he or how physically healthy is he based on the asking price of two first round picks. The price may have changed. The value of Max Crosby may have not. Both of those things can be true. And that's where this comes into play. It may not be, oh, he's hurt. forever. That's, I think, where a lot of people mentally go. They think, well, there's a setback in an injury. Well, not necessarily. This may just mean, we do not think his physical state is worth your asking price. And it's funny they mention the Cowboys, because there have been multiple reports out of Dallas saying the Cowboys maintained, we will not give up to first-round

picks. What did Danny Parkin say on our show last week? He's on with us at one. He did not think Max Crosby was worth two first round picks. That may be the deciding factor in this. It does seem like a buyer beware type situation for all those involved. But anytime someone's coming off a surgery, that's always the case. He hasn't been cleared. He's not back ready to go to practice tomorrow. We've heard explanations from doctors, real doctors, internet doctors,

that this is where you are after a surgery like this. We know it's going to take longer. and no one is surprised that he's not fully ready to go. It's just there's, if you want to believe what's coming out of the Ravens, there was something they didn't like on the medicals. I tend to believe I like Trey Hendrickson as an option at a much lesser rate. Well, outside of Trey Hendrickson, you mentioned doctors. And one of the most qualified on this topic in the city is here.

Dr. Brian Cole, who is the team orthopedist for both the White Sox and the Bulls. He's with Rush. He's very well known. the Midwest Clinic at Rush, an actual orthopedic surgery for NFL teams, but pro teams. So he works on professional athletes, talk to Mullen Hall about what he thought about what Tom Pelliserro had to say. I mean, this is a complicated issue that's not just sort of the physician of the medical side of it. I kind of agree with Tom Pellisterer that his comments. You know, it's, this is something that radius between how an office makes a decision, what they know going in.

Does it end up, you know, being buyers or more, sort of when someone comes in and does an inspection of a home, this is the last chance you have to get out of a trade? You know these things going in, and there's a fundamental difference between relative risk for a metastectomy, which is when you partially remove a meniscus versus a meniscus repair. So the calculus is actually much more complicated than, hey, what did this guy have done because they kind of knew this going into it. But to hone in on the answer to your question, a menacectomy, which is just a trim, is often, especially in the NFL, a four to six-week recovery, assuming the meniscus care

is what's causing the person's pain. You know, relatively young player often doesn't have much in the way of other concommonent or associated problems like arthritis and so forth. So a simple metacctomy, meaning a trim, if that's what's causing pain, is a predictable operation. The alternative is a meniscus repair. and a minister repair is a procedure where we actually put sutures or stitches in the miniscus to preserve it. From a longevity perspective, it's desirable to preserve it.

However, it's associated with significant recovery differences, often four to six months rather than four to six weeks. And then in the NFL, the NBA, in collision sports, there's a one to two and five chance of a re-tear happening once they get back after they've had that prolonged recovery. So, and then it's the issue of what you and I don't know if what else is going on in his knee, is it just the meniscus? So there are many factors, and then the teams have a lot of jurisdiction and flexibility when it comes to, quote, failing a physical.

It's not just can you play or can't you play. There's a lot of other factors that go into it. So there it is. Brian Cole, Dr. Brian Cole, who is with Rush to Midwest Clinic, who is an orthopedic surgeon who works on professional athletes, tells you about the variables involved with that specific injury and why it's not just as simple as one or zero. He's either good or he's not.

And the end of what he said there really hits home because we don't know. We don't know the specific reason if it's a medical reason strictly. Let's say it really is just strictly medical reason, which you'd have to convince me of that. All the reports indicate that that's the case. Listen, I understand that.

But here's my question. If Trey Hendrickson's not available, and you see the dearth now of past rushers available, now that Trey Hendrickson is off the board. Or that were available, yeah. Yeah. So if he's not available, do you think this deal still gets rescinded?

That's, I guess, the question. And the answer could be yes, but it's hard for me to believe because of the timing of everything. The timing of everything. League year starts at 3 o'clock. That's when deals can be done and become official. Happy league year.

In a, what, less than 12-hour span of time? They re-nig on the trade with the Raiders and also sign Trey Hendrickson? Well, that's it. You're only as good as your options are. And when they had other options, they went to their second option. And I think that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying, Layla. If that plan B doesn't exist, are we, are you just 100?

confident that this deal gets taken off the table from the Ravens point of view? I don't necessarily know. I think that every NFL team has multiple sets of plans and contingencies and scenarios. And I think what we saw was what happens when it's two of the biggest names in the sport and it's real time. And the concept of every player affecting somebody else's market in your position group is the case. So I think both are true. But I think again, that's why your physical may have just determined, based on the time he will need, based on what our doctor says about recovery, perhaps two first round picks is no longer the right price for us. And that's where I feel like some of the gray area lies. Now, they didn't want Trey Hendrickson initially.

And they wouldn't have had to give up a thing for him. They already understand they have that cap money available. So I think that was still their first choice because ultimately it was the choice they made first. Whether or not Trey Hendrickson determined how they felt about it, I think when you know you want a plan B and you know you want a pass rusher rather than live without him, they told you what their priorities were. So I think that for them, the Ravens, they had something specific in mind.

If your options are Max Crosby and Trey Hendrickson, good on you. If that's who you want to go get And these are the guys that you want to see I call that a luxurious problem to have We call that living high off the old hog Is what we call that High on the hog, yeah And that's part of it

That you know that means it You're eating the top of the bean on the pig The bears They have First World problems The Ravens clearly have first class problems The Ravens are still in a very fluid situation.

Fluid situation with an MVP quarterback is pretty good. Yeah, but now the scenario where I mentioned that they could have Tyler Linderbom and Max Crosby on the same team building from the inside out, if you will. Well, that's happened, but it's not how they wanted it. And the timelines don't match up. So I think the question now becomes, do you think Trey Hendricksson gets moved? Do you think the bears should get on this? And we want to know what you think, too, 3-1, 2, 1, 2, 6.

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So do you think the bears should get in on the mex, Crosby Sweepsticks, now that it is looking like there might be a discount. We are Rahimi Harris and Grody, Marshall Harris, Laylorah, Rheemey with you, Ray Diaz, Tyler Bueberbaugh, and Brandon Fryer are our producers. We also have a video team of Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Studs and Max Curtis,

and we broadcast live from our scores Hyundai Studios, brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. So join us in the conversation because we thought it was over. Do you get back in on Max if you're the Bears next?