BALTIMORE — The timing of Trey Hendrickson striding into the Ravens’ auditorium on Friday morning in Owings Mills carried with it some irony.

Just a week earlier, Baltimore believed that it had landed a different superstar pass rusher — Maxx Crosby — in a blockbuster trade that would have cost two first-round draft picks. But the deal collapsed under the weight of a meniscus injury and a failed physical, sending ripples across the league and leaving the Ravens scrambling again for the game-changing edge rusher they so desperately need.

So Hendrickson arrived instead, walking to the podium in a black button-down shirt.

Life can move fast, and fortunes can pivot quickly in the NFL. It’s not quite the heel turn of Roger Clemens wearing pinstripes or Kevin Durant going from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Golden State Warriors, but, in the end, the Ravens landed their next-best option in free agency, kicked a leg out from the chair of AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals and got to keep their coveted picks, including this year’s 14th overall selection — the highest for the organization since 2022, when it landed future All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton.

“My wife and I evaluated all our options,” said Hendrickson, flanked by general manager Eric DeCosta and new coach Jesse Minter, as he described the whirlwind of the past week. “I’m in a win-now window.

“This opportunity to hoist a Lombardi trophy, get into the win column and build something from the ground up is an amazing opportunity. A lot of things transpired. I’ve always been a control-what-you-can-control type of guy, and this is a great fit for me and I’m excited for this season.”

For Baltimore, it works.

After the Ravens finished with the third-fewest sacks (30) in the NFL last season and with one of the league’s most anemic pressure rates, DeCosta needed to take a big swing at a big-time pass rusher. He did in Crosby, until the deal collapsed, prompting the Ravens to scuttle the agreement and sending shockwaves rippling across the league. As far as consolation prizes go, Hendrickson hardly feels like one, given his resume and what Baltimore didn’t have to surrender.

A third-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2017 who spent the past five seasons in Cincinnati, Hendrickson was a Pro Bowl selection four of the past five seasons and an All-Pro in 2024. He has 81 career sacks and twice had 17 1/2 in a season, including in 2024 when he led the league. He also has 15 career forced fumbles.

“In looking at the draft being positioned where we were strategically, it was going to be challenging to probably get a guy that we thought coming right away and really impact us at the edge,” DeCosta said of the overall 14th pick. “We felt like this was a year to take a big swing.”

With the second-most fourth-quarter sacks in the NFL since 2021, behind only Danielle Hunter, Hendrickson is also the kind of closer who should bolster a Baltimore defense that has squandered more leads the past five years in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter (16) than any team in the NFL.

“I want the other 10 guys to count on me,” he said. “If we’re in a place and it’s a pinch, you gotta have gas in the tank, and you gotta be able to push when everybody else doesn’t want to.”

For Minter, a player of Hendrickson’s ilk provides “a lot of flexibility,” adding that he is someone who can win in a “multitude of ways.”

For Hendrickson, 31, it’s also a chance to be re-energized after a frustrating end in Cincinnati, where things turned acrimonious. He grew exasperated with the front office and held out last year over the absence of a contract extension.

The Bengals, in turn, weren’t willing to invest at the level he sought, so they instead let him walk despite Hendrickson having 47 1/2 sacks over the past four years.

“It’s exciting to start something fresh,” said Hendrickson, joined by his wife for the festivities. “I think that was overdue for me. My family probably took a lot of things more personally than I did, which is saying something. For everybody to kind of get a fresh start and build on this opportunity, it starts Day 1. I’m excited to get to work.”

The Ravens, of course, are excited to have him, but his addition does not arrive entirely unaccompanied by questions.

Hendrickson will turn 32 in December. He is coming off a core muscle injury that required surgery in December. His marks for run defense have been inconsistent and not nearly as robust as those attached to his pass-rush abilities.

“I’ve been fresh and ready to go,” Hendrickson said. “I feel great.

“It’s a big year. It’s a big season for me, so I’m excited to get it started.”

DeCosta is also not dissuaded.

“I just watch the tape,” he said. “He’s quick, he’s fast, he’s aggressive, he’s got great hand use, he can bend, he finishes, he chases, retrace. Whatever you need him to do, he can do it. I love the passion he plays with. He knows our division. He’s a student of the game. He knows the personnel.

“I’ve seen some of the best guys, especially at this position, play a very, very long time and do really well. We’ve had a few, and I think Trey is gonna be the next guy to do that for us.”

DeCosta also contended that he tried to work out having both Crosby and Hendrickson on the same defensive front to terrorize opposing quarterbacks.

Said Hendrickson of that tantalizing possibility: “What a phenomenal opportunity that would have been.”

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