Here are some additional highlights from DeCosta’s interview:
Since the Maxx Crosby trade that ultimately fell through was reportedly agreed to last Friday, why did his physical not happen until Tuesday?
“In this particular case, a trade can’t be made until the new league year starts. So even as a club, we can’t announce anything, which is why in this particular situation neither the Raiders nor the Ravens could make any public announcement. Since we don’t have the rights to the player, we’ve got to be granted access to the player by the other club. That is unusual from the standpoint of, typically, that wouldn’t be the case except for a trade that happens, again, before the new league year. So, they gave permission to bring the player in at a specific time before the new league year started for the purposes of examining the player to potentially execute the trade.”
Why did the Ravens sign star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson rather than waiting for the draft to address the position or signing a less-expensive free agent?
“I think it comes down to a lot of factors. This is probably one of the first years in recent history that we actually had a decent amount of salary cap room that we could carry over. We felt like that, in conjunction with the salary cap deal that we did with Lamar’s contract, gave us a little bit of flexibility to acquire some players. I think the other part of it is just looking at the draft at No. 14, who’s the player that’s going to be available? Are there going to be any pass rushers there at 14 that we’re going to feel are worth the pick? Obviously, there are two or three guys that we could talk about that we think are probably in that range, but as we’ve seen in the past, those guys go quickly. So, for us to get a proven commodity, I think this year with our team, with the players around them, a point of emphasis for us this year is getting after the quarterback.”
How does he feel about the current wide receivers room?
“Well, I feel good about it. Obviously, Zay [Flowers] is a two-time Pro Bowler and a talented player who’s going to continue to ascend. Rashod Bateman has been a big-time playmaker for us the last couple years. I think he is very, very excited about this year. Can’t wait to see what Rashod does this year in this offense with coach Declan Doyle running the show, and Rashod has proven that in clutch situations, he can make good plays. A guy that I’m excited about is Tez. Tez Walker is a guy that showed flashes last year of being a home run threat. He made some really, really nice plays for us, and I would expect to see another jump this year. I think in looking at free agency, there are still some players out there. I think it’s a pretty strong year in the draft as well. And there are some players that we would anticipate potentially being there for us in the first round at 14 or if we trade back in the first round.”