The Baltimore Ravens shook up the entire NFL on Tuesday night. Just days after agreeing to terms on a trade for Las Vegas Raiders superstar pass rusher Maxx Crosby, the trade was officially off. The Raiders released a short statement announcing that the Ravens had backed out of the trade for Crosby.
Multiple reports indicated that the reason why the Ravens backed out of the deal is because they weren't thrilled with the MRI scans on his surgically repaired knee. The trade was canceled because it did not become official until the start of the new league year at 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday. While the Ravens have been receiving criticism for backing out of the trade, due in part to every team negotiating with the Raiders were aware of Crosby's knee injury, there was another team that helped the Ravens' case, so to speak.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed that Dr. Daniel Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys' team doctor, reviewed Crosby's MRI results. The Ravens consulted with Cooper, who specializes in knee injuries, and ultimately decided to back out of the Crosby trade.
"My understanding is that there were multiple doctors that reviewed his MRI scans. There were doctors that examined him, including Dr. Daniel Cooper ... many teams and players rely on Dr. Cooper's expertise. And Dr. Cooper was one of the doctors who reviewed the images where the Ravens then felt compelled to back out of this trade," said Schefter, h/t The Landry Hat.
Ravens consulted with Cowboys team doctor before deciding to back out of Maxx Crosby trade
As mentioned earlier, Cooper is one of the go-to figures in the NFL when it comes to knee injuries to players. Cooper even performed surgery on Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers, both of whom tore their ACLs this past season. So it's not necessarily a shock that the Ravens would reach out to Cooper to get his opinion on Crosby's MRIs. Ultimately, after a group decision, the Ravens let the Raiders know the trade was off.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed the surgery on Crosby, revealed (via Schefter) that the pass rusher dealt with "a significant meniscus tear and the related stress injury to the bone and cartilage in his knee."
The Cowboys were one of the top teams pursuing Crosby this past week and were close to doing so. However, the Ravens made the winning offer, giving up their 2026 and 2027 first-round picks. The Cowboys pivoted to trading for Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Rashan Gary instead. After the Crosby trade fell through, the Cowboys maintained their commitment to bringing Gary in over Crosby.
As for the Ravens, they pivoted rather quickly, agreeing to terms with top free agent pass rusher and former Cincinnati Bengal Trey Hendrickson on a four-year, $112 million contract.
There are certainly going to be more details to emerge in the coming days after the Crosby trade fell through. But the latest information is that the Ravens consulted with the Cowboys' team doctor before ultimately decided to back out of their deal with the Raiders.