How did physical factor into Ravens backing out?
Mike Florio and Chris Simms discuss Maxx Crosby's meniscus injury and examine how it played a factor in the Ravens backing out of the blockbuster trade agreement with the Raiders.
Video Transcript
It reminds me of something that happened 20 years ago, when the Dolphins had a deal- Oh, yeah with Drew Brees.
Yeah, you're right.
This is about This calls to do it.
And he had 25 studs in his shoulder.
Mm-hmm.
And Nick Saban passed on Drew Brees because he failed the physical.
And then he went to New Orleans, and he became a Hall of Fame quarterback.
And to this day, to this day, Saban blames the doctor.
He has said at one point, "The doctor didn't know his ass from a bag of sand."
But that- Yeah always overlooks the fact- Yeah that Saban could override the doctor if he wanted to.
Saban was in full and complete charge of the football operation in those days.
So he got cold feet, and he could have.
He could have You know, you can You look for a second opinion, a third opinion, talk to this person, talk to th- that person.
And, and Chris, that's a dynamic that we need to address.
This isn't just one rogue doctor.
This isn't that guy House from the old show on Fox.
Yeah.
Schefter was on last night, ESPN, and this is not an incorrect statement.
They talked to a bunch of people.
According to Schefter, including Dr. Daniel Cooper, the cowboy hat-wearing Cowboys- Yes doctor, who has become the new Dr. James Andrews.
Remember when James Andrews was the go-to for knees?
Of course.
Now it's Daniel Cooper.
Right.
He did Malik Nabers.
He did Patrick Mahomes.
Yeah.
I forgot about that.
So- Mm-hmm so c- and Cooper apparently said, "Oh, no.
Uh-oh.
Nope, nope, this isn't good."
And, and, and oh, now coincidentally, the Cowboys are not interested in trading Maxx Crosby.
So Schefter said that Cooper- So- and some other doctors saw some of the information and said it wasn't good?
Yes.
Is that what you're, saying there?
Okay.
Okay.
It- Right.
Right.
Yes.
Yeah.
That other doctors It wasn't just one doctor say, you know, trying to, you know, trying to- Yeah be super doctor.
Yeah.
Sure.
They, they, they, they consulted with others.
And look- Makes me feel better.
Yeah.
Now, this is where it gets interesting.
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Neal Elatrash, who did the surgery, has issued a statement.
Mm-mm.
"Maxx Crosby is doing very well in the early part of his rehab and recovery from surgery to treat a significant meniscus tear and the related stress injury to the bone and cartilage in his knee.
He is certainly on track in his planned program.
He feels very well and is already much improved compared to before surgery."
So, oh, oh, "We truly respect the work of the Ravens staff with Maxx regarding the contract physical exam.
We also understand the challenge the staff faces when tasked to provide a f- future risk assessment based on an evaluation early in the recovery process."
Mm-hmm.
"It's especially challenging when dealing with an elite player, considering the level of commitment necessary for a team to obtain him.
The timing of this assessment is unfortunate because the apparent risk will lessen as his recovery progresses and his return to performance over the next few months becomes clear."
So Elatrash is trying to He's trying to walk a balance here.
Yeah.
He's trying to say, "Hey, hey, Ravens, you got this all wrong, but I understand how you could get it wrong."
Yeah.
"You guys are full of crap-" Right. "
but I get it.
I sympathize with your current-" But if you guys need any- " predicament."
So players that need surgery, here's my number.
Yeah, exactly.
I just wanna keep that going.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
You guys don't know your ass from a bag of sand, but if you're ever looking for a bag of sand or an ass, I'm here to help you.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you know, to your point, you are right that there is, you know, doctors, they, they can look at it different ways.
but I could tell you a story.
My dad, the New York Jets found my dad to be undraftable because they thought he had a winged scapula on his right, in the, you know, the right shoulder, his throwing shoulder.
They thought there was something wrong.
I've had the doctor who was in charge at the time go, you know, like, he came up to me and he goes, "Hey, I'm, I'm the idiot that said your dad wouldn't be able to throw the ball for a long time," right?
So, and that, that does happen, and sometimes, yes, when it's risk management and, you know, risk projection, you, you wanna protect the team as best as you can.
You l- do You know, these doctors do like their job and the hierarchy of working for an NFL football team.
So I get that, and doctors can see it a different way, certainly.
But this one, just to have it go this far down the road with this magnitude of a player, where I don't remember anything other than Drew Brees, with this magnitude of a player happening like this.
And let's not forget, Drew Brees wasn't Drew Brees then.
Like, everybody was just like, "Ah, I don't know.
Is he a good backup, maybe a good starter?
I'm not sure."
The Chargers didn't even want him, and they went 12 and four and 11 five.
So it's, this is like, wait, no doubt, one of the best defensive players in football, one of the best personalities in football.
The guy that we go to the combine and we hear from teams and whoever, "We want our defensive ends to act like Maxx Crosby."
And then for that to not happen, that, that's what's crazy.
And then the unintended consequences of the trade going down, and the Raiders spending all this money and making all these moves going for the future, and now being like, "Uh-oh, wait.
We g- we got to account for Maxx Crosby's contract again.
And what are we gonna do here?"
And that's where it just is crazy when you, you know, get into the NFL business of things here.
Yeah, this is more like the Jets if they'd failed Brett Favre on his physical when the Packers traded him in 2000- Yeah, that's more it, the- after all that trauma.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Brett's trying to do this power play, and oh, wait, where's he gonna go?
Is he gonna go to Tampa?
Is he gonna go to the Jets?
Can't trade him to the Vikings, the Bears, the Lions.
And then they go through all that, and he shows up, and they say, "Oh, wait, this guy's This is wrong.
That's wrong," whatever.
So look, bottom line, and this other issue you've raised I think is very interesting, and I think it's a thread that needs to be tugged.
We need to be clear, one, the Ravens are fully within their rights to pull out of this agreement- Mm-hmm for any reason, 'cause there wasn't an agreement yet, and the league would not look-Unkindly toward it.
It's not a violation of the rules.
I, I m- I made the somewhat snarky point last night that if Tom Brady, minority owner of the Raiders, has a problem with what happened, if he's confused by what happened, if he doesn't understand what happened, all the Reavens, Ravens need to say to him is, "Maybe you should read the rule book."
You're funny.
Tom Brady once said that- You snarky- to the Raiders you, you snarky- So- mother sucker, you.
So, but, but it's completely within the rules.
Yeah.
But it does- Uh-huh create hard feelings.
Yeah.
And, so that, that's number one.
And, and then number two, the Ravens have completely ignored the PR battle here.
The Raiders- are winning the PR battle- Agree because the Raiders dropped the turd in the punch bowl last night, that the Ravens backed out of the trade aga- agreement.
Which implies that the Ravens reneged on the agreement, and no one ever looks kindly on someone who does that.
Yeah.
So I think the Ravens need to come out and say something.
Now, I'm sure they don't wanna hurt Max Crosby, but they need to come out and say something.
They do.
They need to make it clear to everyone, "We didn't back out of the agreement 'cause there wasn't an agreement.
The agreement was contingent on multiple factors.
The, the, the, the, the agreement to buy the house was contingent on various factors, including, you know, the, the selling the old house, and getting a, a, a loan, and a home inspection being passed, and the, the necessary conditions weren't met period."
Yeah.
"We didn't back out of anything."
Yeah.
"There was nothing to back out of."
Yeah.
They need to do that.
They need to do that, 'cause they look bad right now in all of this.
And the way the Raiders handled it And look, I'm not complaining.
It's, it's good for our business, 'cause it gives us something to talk about, but the way the Raiders have handled it creates the impression, number one, they're pissed- Yeah and number two, the Ravens did something shady.
Yeah.
Well, the, it, it just looks that way, and, and it's, it's not, you know, Raven-like.
The Ravens have, as we've all, as you and I, have waxed poetically about a ton since we've worked together, are one of the best-run organizations in football.
I mean, Ozzie Newsome to Eric DeCosta, the ownership, John Harbaugh.
I mean, it just, they're, they're been one of the, the crown jewels of the NFL in this century.
Always in the mix, always going for it.
Got guys that you go, "Damn, I wanna turn on the TV and watch this guy," defense and offense.
the, the, make good deals in the off-season.
So we've always seen them run like a tip-top organization.
That's where I think it's all so shocking.
You just don't see that happen with the Ravens.
And that's where, you know, I, I wanna believe it's truly the medical stuff, and not the other stuff that we talked about, maybe wanting a contract or getting cold feet.
Just because when I think about that and the Ravens, I just go, man, I, I can't see the Ravens, one, not thinking, "Wait, he might want more money or a contract."
And they're so well thought out.
You got a head coach that was with the Chargers who saw Max Crosby a ton, and has the information there.
So with all that, you go, yeah, they usually know what to expect, and know what's, you know, coming around the bend.
And then they, you lose basically a day, a day and a half, of being able to go out there and maybe get a pass rusher, and the market passes you by.
Or get other guys that could've improved your football team that would've added up to the worth of, you know, Max Crosby's contract there.
So that's where I wanna believe that the medical stuff is real, just because I don't feel like the Ravens are dumb enough, disorganized enough, and all that to kinda put themselves in this situation.
I, I would think they would not wanna be in this situation as of Wednesday, the first day of the league year.
Now, here's the, the reality of the situation as it relates to the surgery, and this goes back to the first half of the Neil Elon trash statement, the, the, the, the part before he tried to do the, "Hey, let's make sure I don't piss off the Ravens" side of his statement.
Yeah.
"Max is doing well in the early part of his rehab and recovery from surgery to treat a significant meniscus tear and the related stress- Mm-hmm injury to the bone and cartilage in his knee."
Now, let's think about what happened here.
Yeah.
The knee injury happened early in the 2025 season.
Max Crosby, because he's Max Crosby, was determined to keep playing.
When you have a torn meniscus, the meniscus is a flap of cartilage that's in your knee, and cartilage does not regenerate.
Cartilage is like money in a savings account: once you spend it, it's gone, and it's not coming back, unless you go find more cartilage somewhere else, which is what the microfracture procedure is supposed to do.
Exactly.
And they've gotten better at it, where you drill tiny holes in the bone, and the scar tissue ends up simulating cartilage.
It's amazing what medicine can do.
But ideally, you keep your cartilage.
And you can trim a meniscus, and that means the cartilage is gone, or you can repair the meniscus, where the cartilage is still there.
By the time he had the surgery, though, think about it.
The meniscus is injured.
He's got a bad knee- Yeah and it's getting worse 'cause he's playing- Yeah all year long.
Mm-hmm.
He's playing on this knee where the meniscus is torn to the point where it requires surgery.
That is going to potentially cause And, you know, we talk about it in terms of the body, where if you've got a bad You know, let's just say this.
If you have a s- a stress fracture in your lower leg on the right side, you could end up blowing out your Achilles on the left side.
You're compensating- Totally for whatever you're doing to protect that area.
And I would say within the structure itself that's injured-You're potentially compromising other parts of it, and we know how complicated the knee is.
If there's any part of the human body, well, I think we could come up with a list of a few, but the one thing that amazes me and makes me believe there's a higher power that designed us, and I, I, I really don't know what the higher power is.
I mean, we can, we can tell ourselves it must be this, and then you have millions of others that say it must be this- and millions of others say it must be this.
And ho- whoever's right is gonna be celebrating one of these days, and all the others that are wrong are screwed.
But the, the, the workings of the knee, the inner workings of the knee, holy shit, the way that thing is constructed.
Yeah.
But once it starts to go, it can cascade.
So that orthopedic surgeon I spoke to last night said you could have, you could have ligament damage if this guy was playing for weeks and weeks and weeks with a torn meniscus in his knee.
Mm-hmm.
You could have other cartilage damage.
You could have the meniscus damaged to the point where you can't fix it.
You can try.
Yeah.
You can try to do You know, Ella Trash goes in and he tries, and then when it's done, it's like, "Ah, man, would've been nice to do this four months ago-" Yeah "before you'd played-" You can have bone bruising- " another 12 games on it."
on top of it too, can't you?
Just because- Yeah, you can have- Yeah you can have a whole ar- Yeah.
Yeah, you can have a whole array of problems.
And to your point, the Ravens, as buttoned up as they are, they're not Like, they've never given up a first-round pick for a player in franchise history.
Yeah.
If they're gonna do it, they're not gonna roll the dice.
They're not gonna play roulette with their draft pick.
They wanna make sure they're getting a return, and if they have any concern whatsoever about that knee, they're out.
And maybe their, maybe their bar is gonna be higher than anyone else's, but it's their right.
Yeah.
And that's the key.
That's right.
Yeah.
They can back out.
Yeah.
And, and if And they just need to explain what happened, and they need to find a way to do it.
Look, if they And I understand you don't wanna throw the kid under the bus, but, I, I mean, they, they need to, they need to do something to counter the perception that they did something dirty.
The Raiders' statement makes it look like they did something dirty.
Yeah, agreed there.
You know, they, they can come out and say something along what you said, and I think everybody would buy that.
You know, "We love Max Crosby.
We wanted it to work.
We had the ultimate respect for him.
But, you know, ultimately, our doctors weren't happy with some of the things they saw in his knee.
We might not be totally 100%.
We understand if other doctors see it a different way.
We get that, but this was a huge investment for us, and not only money, but assets for doing the trades and all that, and we just didn't feel comfortable with it."
And I think, you know, something like that will go over big, and certainly, you know, soothe people over like you and me and, and the masses out there right now.
