ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote about a blockbuster trade that ultimately was nixed between the Baltimore Ravens and the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s a situation where Crosby himself said, “No one will ever admit what the real truth is.”
During the process, Fowler shared that the Raiders’ requirement was two first-round picks. The deal was contingent on Crosby passing a physical before the trade could be made. Fowler said the Dallas Cowboys were in the same market.
According to Fowler, Dallas’s initial offer
included San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa:
Baltimore beat out the Dallas Cowboys, who were also seeking an elite pass rusher. Initial offers centered on Dallas’ second first-round pick at No. 20, and defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa. The Cowboys then offered their top first-rounder at No. 12 and a third-round pick. Ultimately, the Cowboys moved to No. 12 and their second-round pick, but the last two offers, sources said, did not include Odighizuwa, who was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a third-round selection.
How about that? The 49ers’ best interior player on the defensive line may never have been available had the dominoes fallen another way.
Crosby was tied to the 49ers through the media, but this does not sound like they were ever actually involved in the Crosby sweepstakes. Should the 49ers have been interested in Crosby? Would you have traded a first-rounder and another high-end pick? Dallas attempted to, but only the Ravens matched Las Vegas’s asking price.
The article highlights how, in addition to their own doctors, the Ravens had a handful of doctors outside the organization weigh in on Crosby’s knee:
The consensus was that Crosby would be able to play in 2026. The Ravens’ concern centered on the uncertainty of Crosby’s durability after a couple of seasons in Baltimore because of a degenerative issue in his knee, a source told ESPN.
It sounds like there may have been too many cooks in the kitchen, leading the Ravens to get cold feet. At the end of the day, the 49ers were tied to this trade because they might’ve ended up with a different veteran had Crosby landed in Dallas.
