Stunning news sends shockwave through NFL that casts unknown shadow over Commanders’ free agency signings

One blockbuster NFL trade took an unprecedented turn, and the Commanders’ entire free agency approach has drastically shifted.

Josh Taylor — Washington Commanders News Writer
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The NFL is the craziest league in all of sports, and we saw why tonight after the most shocking update with a blockbuster offseason trade that will turn the league upside down.

The Baltimore Ravens have officially backed out of their trade for star pass rusher Maxx Crosby with the Las Vegas Raiders after a failed physical, and this throws a massive wrench in all of the free agency signings that have been agreed to.

The Washington Commanders are one of the teams most impacted by this shockwave of news, and everything we thought we knew is now a massive unknown.

Maxx Crosby blockbuster trade sends shockwave to Commanders’ offseason

I’ve never seen this before, but the Raiders announced that their trade with the Ravens, including multiple first-round picks and superstar Maxx Crosby, is officially off after a failed physical less than 24 hours before it became official.

The trade wasn’t set to become official until 4 pm ET on Wednesday, just like every free agency contract that has been agreed to, and now the last 48 hours have been turned upside down. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been agreed to in free agency, and the Riaders have been the biggest spenders. Now, the Raiders are getting Crosby and his $30 million contract back, which puts them in a tricky situation.

The Commanders are directly impacted by this news because of who they tried to sign, who they did sign, and also with Crosby likely coming to the NFC East now.

How the Commanders are impacted

I have no idea where to even start about the ripple effects that go into the Commanders’ timeline. First, the Raiders paid center Tyler Linderbaum the highest contract for a center ever at $27 million per year, and the Commanders were the other team close to landing him, according to multiple reports.

We don’t know if the Raiders can even afford Linderbaum anymore, or if they are comfortable withit becoming official tomorrow after taking Crosby’s contract back on. The Commanders still don’t have a new center, and they could check back in with Linderbaum’s camp and see if anything has changed.

The Ravens need a new pass rusher now, and they could easily target Odafe Oweh, who agreed on a contract with the Commanders. Oweh’s former defensive coordinator with the Chargers, Jesse Minter, is the new head coach for the Ravens, and he could want him back to fill in for the Crosby loss, or they could target Trey Hendrickson.

The Commanders could also pursue Crosby, who now likely comes at a much cheaper cost after a failed physical. The Cowboys were heavy favorites to land him, but reports say they are out and have moved on from Crosby. This whole situation is a giant mess, and every single team is impacted, but the Commanders have a lot of unknowns right now.

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