Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz are joined by senior NFL writer Frank Schwab discuss who’s really at fault for the deal between Baltimore and Las Vegas not getting done for Maxx Crosby. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.
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Video Transcript
The Raiders are nobody’s victim.
A- as you pointed out, I, I tweeted about it with winners and losers, I’ve led with winners and losers.
The Raiders used this exact same injury excuse last December to tank.
Okay?
They’re nobody’s victim here.
They went out and said, “Max, we think your knee’s so bad you can’t play anymore against the Giants,” wink, wink.
And Max said, “What are you talking about?”
And stormed out of the building.
tanking is worse than failing a guy on his physical.
Like, I, t- ’cause as I said in Inside Coverage yesterday- But, oh, oh I watch a lot of NBA.
I watch a lot of NBA.
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Tanking’s one of the worst things that, that can happen to a sport.
But, I, look, I, I don’t disagree with you on some of that principle, but let me, let me push back gently on this.
A couple of things.
Number one- Gently?
The Raiders said that knee- You never push back gently.
What are we talking about?
Well, you know, the Raiders said, “That knee is so bad you need to be shut down.”
And Max and his team said, “Nuh-uh, I’m fine.
I can play.”
It was a full meniscus reconstruction that is now gonna have him out all the way until possibly the beginning of the season.
Which, by the way, proves that the Raiders were right.
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Like, Max is like, “No, no, no.
I can play a couple games.”
And that’s it.
Okay.
He may not even be, he may not even be ready for week one right now as part of this physical we’re finding out.
Probably not gonna be ready for training camp.
Like, that, that, that to me says, like, for all of the, “Oh, I can’t believe they shut him down so they could tank,” their team doctor said, “No, we need to get this knee fixed.”
Max said, “No.”
Who was right?
The medical seems to prove that the Raiders didn’t weirdly shut Max down.
The medical seemed to prove that Max was being stubborn and didn’t wanna be shut down.
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Right, and the medical also proves the Ravens point, that we’re not really comfortable with this.
It’s worse than we thought.
Like, it’s one of two.
I, I, you’re right.
It’s either Ra- Raiders w- the Raiders were involved in chicanery to tank, and if that’s not true and this knee was really as bad as, as You know, and, and you’re right, i- it’s a major surgery, then the Ravens were right on Tuesday to call off the trade.
Like, one of the two has to be true.
It can’t be that the Raiders said in December, “Oh, this, this knee is so bad” and then you come back in March and say, “No, knee’s fine.
What are you talking about?”
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Like, it’s, it’s gotta be one or the other.
I- Come on.
I do think, weirdly, before we move on, I’ll say this one other thing.
I think weirdly both teams won and lost.
Because if the Ravens are trying to win a Super Bowl right now, I think they are much better with Maxx Crosby.
Maxx Crosby is a much better player than Trey Hendrickson.
I’d agree.
I’d agree.
And it isn’t even close.
Mm-hmm.
So if they’re trying to win- Yep a Super Bowl over the next two years, they’d be better with Max.
If they’re trying to make sure that they’re balanced for whatever’s gonna happen long term, then they’re better to have the first, the two first picks.
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Like, that, that makes absolute sense.
For the Raiders, if you tell me that they spent 200 and something million dollars in free agency, and on the last day of free agency they manage to get one of the best defensive players of the last decade, they’re better because of it.
Right.
But- Right they could also, if you’re, if we’re taking the argument, hey, long term, they could use those picks.
They probably be need, they would probably need those picks as well.
Like, both teams weirdly won and lost in this transaction.
That’s why, like, I’m just not as edgy about it as so many people.
I, I kind of look at it and say, “Hey, I like my favorite football team having Maxx Crosby more than I like them not having Maxx Crosby, and I think he’s gonna make them better this year.”
So I, I’m not that worried about it.