Mike Preston: Ravens' Crosby mess leaves DeCosta playing defense

Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun on Mar 11, 2026

Published in Football

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BALTIMORE — General manager Eric DeCosta put out his narrative on Wednesday, a response in damage control.

He really had no other choice, and it seemed like either owner Steve Bisciotti’s production or something implemented by Chad Steele, the Ravens’ senior vice president of communications. Within the past 36 hours, the Ravens have lost eight players to free agency and nixed a trade for Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. They reacted by signing another pass rusher, the Cincinnati Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson.

Both are regarded as among the top pass rushers in the NFL. Crosby had agreed to a three-year, $106.5 million contract with the Raiders last March, which the Ravens planned to pay, but they backed out of the agreement Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning, the Ravens had agreed to a four-year contract worth $112 million with Hendrickson despite Crosby having toured the Ravens’ training facility recently in Owings Mills.

So, DeCosta had some explaining to do. It was an 18-minute contrived news conference. Not only did the Ravens look bad in Baltimore, but this was the worst debacle since 1997, when the Ravens had planned to announce Dallas safety Brock Marion had agreed to a deal, but it was nullified because X-rays showed that his damaged shoulder had not completely healed.

Back then, the Ravens were a national embarrassment. The failure to sign Crosby, 28, was just as bad.

“We were very focused on Maxx [Crosby] and [had] a lot of attention given to that particular acquisition. I think for us, it was going to be probably our biggest foundational acquisition this year,” DeCosta said. “In terms of Trey [Hendrickson], I think we came to a point probably after we lost Tyler [Linderbaum], where, as we’re trying to find the best way for us to get better as a football team, Trey kind of made a lot of sense as a possible guy to look at.”

DeCosta even went as far as to say that the Ravens were interested in both Hendrickson and Crosby, and had discussed putting them on the opposite sides of the field in passing situations.

Oh, please.

On one side would be Crosby, one of the most complete players in the game with 69 1/2 sacks in seven seasons. On the other would be Hendrickson, a top pass rusher with 81 sacks in nine seasons.

If you believe that, then Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real. It was one or the other, but at least the Ravens came away with a top pass rusher, as they finished with only 30 sacks last season.

There was no way the Ravens could afford both, but this was a “change the narrative” day for DeCosta and the Ravens. They had to come up with a different perception. Something different than the team’s ugly perception around the NFL, which is why they sent out an advisory to local media only 90 minutes before the news conference. The Ravens needed to establish their credibility in the league again, and it was apparent that it had worked.

At least that was DeCosta’s story.

“It hasn’t stopped my phone from ringing, I’ll tell you that,” DeCosta said of the whole ordeal.

DeCosta’s arrogance hasn’t subsided, but that is needed as a GM. At least he stepped up and didn’t back down. He did the right thing Wednesday by apologizing to Crosby and the Raiders. He even complimented Linderbaum, the former Ravens center who agreed to a three-year, $81 million contract with Las Vegas on Monday afternoon.

Maybe the biggest news to come out Wednesday, besides quarterback Lamar Jackson agreeing to a contract extension that will free up $40 million in salary cap relief this season, was that the Ravens got back their first-round draft pick in 2026 and 2027, which they had agreed to trade to Las Vegas in the deal for Crosby.

“I had kind of taken a Sharpie and [crossed] out about 25 players on my list that we weren’t going to have a chance to select, and [now] I have to make a new list and have those players back on the list,” DeCosta said.

Hendrickson, 31, is three years older than Crosby, who missed the final two games of the 2025 regular season because of knee problems. Hendrickson only played in seven games last season after having core surgery in December to repair a pelvis and disc injury.

Even with the Jackson restructure, it’s unlikely the Ravens will be able to sign a No. 1 receiver on the outside, but at least they might draft a top offensive lineman such as Utah’s Spencer Fano or Penn State’s Olaivavega Ioane. Or maybe because they have their top picks back, they might make a trade for Philadelphia Eagles receiver A.J. Brown.

The Ravens have options again, and they play in the weak AFC. A year ago, the Patriots were one of the worst teams in the NFL, and they made it to the Super Bowl this past season. Free agency is only a few days old, so the Ravens still have time to build their team.

DeCosta repaired some of the bad mistakes he made in recent days, and it was definitely needed.