Agents blast NFL for abandoned trade involving Ravens, Raiders' Maxx Crosby

Without question, the most-discussed story of the opening 24 hours of the new NFL year has been the Baltimore Ravens backing out of the agreement to land Las Vegas Raiders star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby for two first-round draft picks after Crosby reportedly did not pass his physical. 

Numerous general managers, executives and other members of the NFL community have ripped the Ravens for their handling of the situation and for basically hanging the Raiders out to dry. However, NFL insider Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom spoke with multiple agents who feel the NFL's structuring of its calendar is largely to blame for why Crosby is still a Las Vegas player. 

Will Raiders, Ravens Maxx Crosby saga change how the NFL structures its offseasons?

"Why do we pretend every year that we aren’t doing business at the combine, anyway?" one agent remarked. "What are they really accomplishing with this anti-tampering window? What if we started the league year before the combine? Free agents can come in, meet with teams in person. Every medical staff is already there." 

It's hardly a secret that teams "tamper" with pending free agents before free-agency negotiation windows open each year. The "legal tampering" portion of free agency always begins after executives and other members of organizations meet during the scouting combine, so it's silly to think deals aren't essentially done before the last prospect finishes his workout in Indianapolis.

"It’s an interesting idea," a second agent responded to the first. "The combine isn’t as valuable to teams as it used to be outside of the medical testing (for incoming draft picks), so you’re seeing more teams keeping their football people at home. If you turned the combine into more of how baseball does it, and everyone comes to Indianapolis, and you can start doing contracts then, it would probably be more efficient for everyone."

Is there a better way for NFL offseasons to take place?

The Ravens may have had legitimate reasons related to the meniscus repair that Crosby needed earlier this winter to give him a failing grade regarding his physical. Nevertheless, the perception exists that Baltimore had more than enough time to lock Cincinnati Bengals pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson down via a four-year, $112M contract that could be worth up to $120M because the Crosby trade couldn't be finalized until Wednesday afternoon. 

While Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta has insisted he wanted to acquire both Crosby and Hendrickson this offseason, many aren't buying what DeCosta has tried to sell. 

"I’m not condoning what DeCosta did at all," an unnamed general manager told La Canfora. "It’s bull----. But you can get away with it, and you’re never going to be penalized for it, because we are forced to do things backwards this time of year. I don’t think they give a s--- in New York (at the league office), but there’s got to be a better way to do this."

It remains to be seen if league owners and the NFL Players Association will one day come up with "a better way" to schedule when offseason transactions can be made official.