The Ravens didn't pivot to Trey Hendrickson after the Maxx Crosby trade fell through. They wanted to form a monster pass rushing duo with both star pass rushers.
General Manager Eric DeCosta confirmed reports Wednesday that Baltimore actively worked on deals with Crosby and Hendrickson at the same time.
DeCosta said the Ravens had essentially earmarked salary cap space to retain Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum but pivoted when the Las Vegas Raiders lured him away with a market-shattering deal on Monday afternoon. That's when Baltimore started some discussions with Hendrickson's agent.
"We were trying to sign Tyler, obviously. We weren't able to get that done. [While] looking at the best ways for us to improve our football team, at some point we just said, 'You know what? This might be a guy [Hendrickson] that really fits us,'" DeCosta said.
"We've played against him twice a year for the last whatever many years, four or five years. And thought, 'Hey, maybe this is a way for us to get better as a football team.' So, that was definitely a possibility for us. Not to say that it would've happened, but definitely something that we had contemplated and discussed with Trey."
Crosby and Hendrickson would have been the best pass rushing due on the league. Since 2019, when Crosby entered the league, Hendrickson ranks third in the NFL in sacks (79) and Crosby ranks sixth (69.5).
The Ravens envisioned Crosby as their "biggest foundational acquisition this year." But they had visions of "two pass rushers on the defensive line on both sides of the line."
On Monday, the Ravens believed that their deal for Crosby, including sending two first-round picks to Las Vegas, would go through. That changed when Crosby came to Baltimore on Tuesday for his physical.
At that point, Hendrickson was also having visions of teaming up with Crosby. Ultimately and unfortunately, it will go down as a "what could have been" for Baltimore.
"Again, I think it was disappointing to us and probably, in a way, potentially disappointing probably to Trey as well," DeCosta said.
