ExtremeRavens Posted 13 hours ago Posted 13 hours ago The Ravens just became one of the top contenders to win the Super Bowl again. There had been a lot of talk about restructuring the contract for two-time Most Valuable Player and quarterback Lamar Jackson to free up salary-cap space, which would allow the Ravens to pursue top free agents, but Baltimore filled its most glaring need this offseason by agreeing to a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for two-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby on Friday night. This isn’t hype. Regardless of all the other speculation, this was by far the team’s greatest need because they had the 30th-ranked pass defense in the NFL last season and collected only 30 sacks, the third fewest in the league. To reach a deal with Crosby and the Raiders, the Ravens had to surrender first-round draft picks in 2026 and 2027, but that’s what contending teams do when they feel that they are in a hunt for a championship. Jackson is 29. Running back Derrick Henry is 32, and left tackle Ronnie Stanley is 32. On the other side, middle linebacker Roquan Smith is 28 and cornerback Marlon Humphrey is 29. The Ravens needed to gamble, and they might have won. The NFL is a quarterback-driven league, and the modern-day signal caller is quick, fast and mobile. They can run as well as pass, and the league features speedy quarterbacks such as Jackson, New England’s Drake Maye, Denver’s Bo Nix, Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts, Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes. It’s not just about pressure, but having a player who other teams have to focus on. It’s about having an end or an outside linebacker who forces offensive coordinators to stay awake at night, causing them nightmares, or having a player who can run through double or triple teams even in third-and-long situations. Crosby is no slouch against the run, either. Ask the Ravens. Ever since the team moved to Baltimore from Cleveland for the start of the 1996 season, the Ravens have had only a few dynamic pass rushers. There were defensive ends Michael McCrary and Rob Burnett at the turn of the century, and later outside linebackers Peter Boulware and Terrell Suggs. Now, they finally got another one in Crosby. No need to talk about him turning 29 in August, or his past two seasons being cut short because of injuries. It’s more about being willing to gamble and taking a shot at acquiring the best pass rusher in the game outside of Cleveland’s Myles Garrett. Since 2020, Crosby has been one of the league’s most durable players and ranks second in pressures and third in quarterback hits during that time. In six seasons, Crosby has 69 1/2 sacks, including 10 last season despite missing the last two games with a meniscus injury. Let’s compare: Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones led the team with five sacks in 2025 while outside linebacker Tavius Robinson had 4 1/2. Rookie outside linebacker Mike Green had 3 1/2. Maybe the biggest player to benefit from this trade is Green, because opposing teams now have to focus on Crosby. The 2025 second-round pick will be able to get one-on-one matchups against offensive linemen instead of being the focus. And if the Ravens get Nnamdi Madubuike back from a neck injury, this front four can be almost as good as any in the NFL. They can get pressure from the outside, but also up the middle, which is key for any pass rush. At least now the Ravens might be in the class with the past two Super Bowl winners in Seattle and Philadelphia, teams that didn’t rely on exotic blitzes or crazy schemes but could get pressure with their front four. Maybe, just maybe, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta has figured out that regardless of how much the NFL has changed through the years, with a lot of emphasis on the passing game, teams still win by dominating up front in the trenches or the line of scrimmage. It comes back to my favorite subject again: a team needs to have balance in all three phases of the game — offense, defense and special teams — to win consistently in the NFL. After 18 seasons, DeCosta no longer has John Harbaugh to push around. He is now the coach of the New York Giants. Maybe the happiest players for the Ravens are those in the secondary, including safeties Kyle Hamilton and Malaki Starks and cornerbacks Nate Wiggins and Humphrey. Even if a team has Hall of Famers Deion Sanders and Mel Blount at corner, they too will get burned on occasion if there isn’t a pass rush. But this is all about the Ravens. They just improved their biggest weakness from a year ago, even though the offensive line still needs to be upgraded. But maybe those answers come in the annual NFL draft in April. For now, though, Baltimore couldn’t get pressure on the quarterback, regardless if he was stationary or mobile. That changed Friday night. The Ravens got Crosby. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article Quote
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