The Heyward brothers are no longer both Pittsburgh Steelers. Last week, Connor Heyward left the Steelers in free agency to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders, and while the two aren’t on the same team, that doesn’t mean Cam Heyward isn’t still playing big brother. On the latest episode of his Not Just Football podcast, Cam Heyward wished his little brother well and talked about how excited he is for Connor’s new opportunity. But he also said he reached out to his friends with the Raiders to make sure they take care of Connor in Las Vegas.
One of those friends is star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, and Cam said he asked Crosby, whose trade to the Baltimore Ravens fell through, to take care of Connor if he didn’t get traded. Crosby offered Heyward some candid thoughts on the Ravens.
“He was like, ‘Fuck those dudes, I’m staying with the Raiders.’ I was like alright, I can respect that. Maxx has always been straight up with me and I’ve always respected Maxx a lot,” Cam Heyward said. “I was happy he didn’t end up with the Ravens selfishly, but to say he’s going to be there also made me happy because he’s going to be able to take good care of little brother.”
The Ravens backed out of the trade due to something they flagged on Crosby’s physical, and clearly that’s a decision he didn’t agree with. Crosby is one of the best pass rushers in football and going to Baltimore would’ve given the team a legitimate threat off the edge. While they pivoted to sign Trey Hendrickson, the Ravens will find out sooner rather than later if they made a mistake backing out of the Crosby deal.
Obviously, the player isn’t going to believe that his body isn’t at the place where a team should void a trade for him, and Crosby’s frustration is understandable. The Ravens’ side of things is also understandable, given they were trading two first-round picks for him. If they had any concerns about him staying healthy and the investment being a bad one, they had the right to pull out. But that doesn’t mean Crosby has to like the decision. The next time he plays against the Ravens, he might have a little extra giddy up to try and prove that they made a mistake.