NFL people coming up with fixes for schedule after Ravens-Maxx Crosby saga

Following the Baltimore Ravens' backing out of the agreement to acquire Las Vegas Raiders star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby for two first-round draft picks after Crosby reportedly did not pass his physical, NFL agents suggested that future similar situations could be avoided by starting new league years before annual scouting combines. 

NFL reporters/analysts Mike Florio and Chris Simms of Pro Football Talk/NBC Sports have also spoken with "folks around the league" about what can be learned from the Crosby-related drama. Florio offered a different suggestion for how "players who may be traded at the start of the league year" and also how pending free agents should spend portions of their offseasons. 

Could scouting combine be used to avoid future Maxx Crosby-type fiascos?

"They all go to Indianapolis during the scouting combine," Florio wrote. "They go through the same medical review process that every incoming player experiences. And because it’s a collective process, no one will have to declare themselves as being interested in any player before getting the medical information. Then, after the combine, a trade can be negotiated without the requirement that the player must pass a physical. The new team takes the player as is, with the benefit of the information freshly gathered in Indianapolis."

Team owners and the NFL Players Association would both have to sign off on such a plan, perhaps while negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA expires in 2031.

As Florio referenced, such an agreement could be beneficial for players and teams. In 2023, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the Raiders agreed to a three-year contract that reportedly could have been worth up to $72.5M with $33.75M guaranteed at signing. However, Las Vegas later re-worked that deal to ensure the club could get out of it if Garoppolo couldn't pass a physical after he needed surgery in March of that year to repair a foot injury. 

Why the scouting combine plan makes sense

"All of this can be avoided if the teams interested in an impending free agent have access to a physical conducted at the same place and at the same time the league at large is poking and prodding the incoming players," Florio continued. "The doctors are already in Indianapolis. And the player will have to take a physical at some point, anyway. Given that 32 different teams could have 32 different opinions about a given player’s overall condition, it makes sense for all of them to have the relevant medical information before any of them negotiate a contract with him."

History shows that players don't love being told where they have to be and when, particularly at a time when they're supposed to be away from official NFL duties. That said, one would think Crosby would have avoided all that he experienced over the past week had he known his trade request would lead to his eventual return to the Raiders. 

In short, it certainly sounds like the biggest thing to come from the Crosby storyline may involve changes being made to the NFL offseason calendar.