Well, now we know what Lamar Jackson’s cryptic tweet was about.
On Friday night, The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini (and many others) broke the news that the Baltimore Ravens traded for Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby. “Crosby had his eye on the Cowboys, Ravens, and Patriots for weeks,” Russini relayed.
Baltimore sent its 2026 and 2027 first-round draft picks to Las Vegas in exchange for the five-time Pro Bowler. The trade will become official once the NFL’s new league year commences on March 11 at 4 p.m. EST.
According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, this trade marks the first time in the Ravens’ 31-year franchise history that they spent a first-round draft pick to trade for a player.
According to Russini, it was a long time coming.
“While it appeared that the Raiders were giving out mixed signals to teams publicly regarding Maxx Crosby’s status, both the franchise and player knew that Crosby’s future was sealed back in mid-December,” she wrote, adding, “Both the Baltimore Ravens and the Dallas Cowboys had been working on this for days. They kept communication with the Raiders. The Jacksonville Jaguars were another team trying to put together a big trade package that would get it done. Ravens win.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Dallas Cowboys “were willing to offer a first- and second-round pick,” but the Raiders went with the Ravens’ two first-rounders. Crosby, 28, joins a list of only 15 players in NFL history with a trade price of at least two first-round picks, per Schefter.
The Ravens were already in win-now mode with Jackson at quarterback, but the pressure has never been higher. Baltimore hasn’t reached the Super Bowl since winning it with Joe Flacco under center 13 years ago. The closest the Jackson-led Ravens came was losing to the eventual champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, ending the 2023 season.
Jackson turned 29 in January and struggled through an injury-riddled season in 2025. Baltimore finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years in the worst way imaginable: Taylor Loop missed a field goal as time expired in Week 18 against the Pittsburgh Steelers to send Pittsburgh to the postseason instead. Afterward, Baltimore fired longtime head coach John Harbaugh and tapped Jesse Minter as the fourth head coach in franchise history.
With the Crosby trade, the Minter era starts with a bang by addressing a position of need. Baltimore ranked 29th in sacks (30) last season, while Crosby accounted for 10 of the Raiders’ 37 sacks in 2025.
Crosby has been a Raiders lifer since the franchise selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He has 69.5 career sacks, 133 career tackles for loss, and 164 quarterback hits. Crosby made First Team All-Pro in 2022, which was sandwiched by Second Team All-Pro honors in 2021 and 2023.
However, in 2024, Crosby was limited to 12 games by an ankle injury that required surgery. Last season, the Raiders shut him down with two games to go, and he underwent meniscus repair surgery in January.
The Ravens hope Crosby recaptures his highest heights to justify the highest-stakes trade in Baltimore’s history.
Read the full article here
