Dallas Cowboys fans knew better than to believe Jerry Jones\u2019 \u201cbust the budget\u201d mantra, just as they didn\u2019t buy his \u201call-in\u201d pitch two years ago. <\/p>\n
Trading for Maxx Crosby, however, would have backed up both claims. The Cowboys nearly pulled it off<\/a>, too, as reports indicated they were runners-up to the Baltimore Ravens before Baltimore backed out of its blockbuster agreement with the Las Vegas Raiders.<\/p>\n The Ravens cited Crosby\u2019s failed physical in their official statement. Speaking to reporters at the NFL\u2019s annual league meeting in Phoenix, Jones all but confirmed the Cowboys would have done the same (h\/t Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review Journal<\/a>). <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no hidden item there \u2014 you\u2019ve got to pass a physical. We\u2019ve never completed an agreement until the player passes the physical. We would have had the same conditions with the physical. <\/p>\n As you know, we were in on making an offer for him. So he would have come to Dallas, and we\u2019ll all just guess what would have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cbad faith\u201d crowd isn\u2019t going to enjoy reading that quote. <\/p>\n Jerry Jones all but says the Dallas Cowboys would’ve backed out of a Maxx Crosby trade <\/p>\n Jones didn’t go as far as to say that Dallas would’ve followed Baltimore’s lead, but he didn’t have to. And it makes you wonder if other interested teams would have done the same. <\/p>\n A five-time Pro Bowler, Crosby was shut down for the final two games of the 2025 season and later underwent surgery in January to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.<\/p>\n