Ravens GM Eric DeCosta confirms bold Maxx Crosby, Trey Hendrickson plan after abandoned trade

Roughly 12 hours after the Baltimore Ravens backed out of their agreement to send two first-round draft picks to the Las Vegas Raiders for pass-rusher Maxx Crosby, the Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals defensive star Trey Hendrickson reportedly agreed to a four-year, $112M contract that could be worth up to $120M.

On Wednesday, Pat McAfee revealed on his show that Hendrickson thought he'd be playing alongside Crosby with the Ravens. Later in the day, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta insisted he was "disappointed" the Crosby trade didn't go through. 

DeCosta also confirmed McAfee's report. 

Did Ravens really want both Maxx Crosby and Trey Hendrickson?

Per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, DeCosta shared that losing center Tyler Linderbaum to the Raiders made it possible that the Ravens could pair Crosby with Hendrickson. 

"Trey kind of made a lot of sense as a possible guy to look it," DeCosta explained. "So, we started some discussions with he and his agent, thinking that potentially we could have two pass-rushers on the defensive line, on both sides of the line. Again, I think it was disappointing to us, and probably in a way, potentially disappointing probably to Trey as well."

Crosby reportedly did not pass his physical with the Ravens for reasons related to the meniscus repair he needed following the 2025 season. A Wednesday report claimed that the Ravens were willing to sign Crosby "to a revised contract that would have paid him near the top of the pass-rusher market." Crosby's agent later referred to that story as "fake news."

Ravens discussed Maxx Crosby plans with Trey Hendrickson?

"We had started discussions with both players," DeCosta added while speaking with reporters. "We had agreed to potentially the trade with the Raiders, but we had...We were trying to sign Tyler, obviously, and weren’t able to get that done. Looking at the best way for us to improve our football team at some point, we just said, 'You know what, this might be a guy that really fits us. We’ve played against twice a year for the last however many years — four or five years — and thought, 'Hey, maybe this is a way for us to get better as a football team.' That was definitely a possibility for us. Not to say it would have happened, but definitely something that we had contemplated and discussed with Trey." 

Whatever did and/or didn't happen regarding the trade, Crosby now seems prepared to feature for the Raiders through at least the 2026 season.