After the dizzying events of the last five days, the remaining careers of Pro Bowl edge rushers Trey Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby will be closely linked.
Some 13 hours after Las Vegas revealed the Ravens had “backed out” of the blockbuster trade for Crosby due to concerns about the health of his surgically-repaired knee, news broke that general manager Eric DeCosta had pivoted to a four-year, $112 million deal with Hendrickson. That includes $60 million fully guaranteed and a $20 million signing bonus in addition to incentives that could take the maximum value of the deal to $120 million, according to ESPN. Of course, the agreement was contingent on the former Cincinnati Bengal passing a physical — Hendrickson did undergo core muscle surgery in December to conclude an injury-plagued 2025 — and couldn’t be made official until after the start of the new league year on Wednesday. The base contract’s average annual value of $28 million per season would rank Hendrickson 11th among edge rushers, according to OverTheCap.com.
Despite appearing in just seven games last season, Hendrickson registered four sacks and eight quarterback hits and still graded 11th out of 119 edge defenders by Pro Football Focus. The 2017 third-round pick out of Florida Atlantic will be entering his 10th NFL season and has registered 81 sacks over 117 career games. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Hendrickson owns four seasons of 13 1/2 sacks or more.
No matter the perceptions around the NFL — or the actual truth — regarding the decision to walk away from an agreement that would have sent two first-round picks to the Raiders for the 28-year-old Crosby, the Ravens couldn’t afford to sit on their hands in the name of optics, especially still having a dire need for pass-rushing help and Hendrickson remaining on the open market late Tuesday night. While the 31-year-old isn’t the all-around force multiplier or elite run defender as a healthy Crosby, he made four consecutive Pro Bowls from 2021-24 and registered back-to-back seasons of 17 1/2 sacks in 2023 and 2024, which eclipses Baltimore’s single-season franchise record of 17 set by Elvis Dumervil in 2014. Hendrickson finished second in the voting for 2024 AP Defensive Player of the Year.
The deal also creates a spicy storyline for the AFC North with Hendrickson now in line to face his old team twice per season. It’s not a secret that he and the Bengals had a contentious contract dispute over the last few years that included trade requests as well as a holdout last summer.
The Ravens also get to keep the 14th overall pick in next month’s draft as well as their first-round selection in 2027, which surely raises eyebrows among those skeptical of their handling of Crosby’s physical. The pending signing of Hendrickson would cancel out the 2027 third-round compensatory pick Baltimore was projected to receive after three-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum agreed to a three-year, $81 million deal with the Raiders earlier this week.
