A new report suggests the Cincinnati Bengals were far closer to trading for Las Vegas Raiders superstar Maxx Crosby than anyone realized before dealing the 10th overall pick for All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence.
Crosby almost went to the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens, who were set to give up two first-round picks for him. Baltimore reneged on the blockbuster trade due to medical red flags, only to turn around and snatch Trey Hendrickson from Cincinnati in free agency.
The Ravens could've had a dynamic Hendrickson-Crosby tandem to get after Joe Burrow twice a season. It turns out, however, if this rumor be true, that Baltimore effectively knocked the Bengals out of the Crosby sweepstakes.
Bengals made right call trading for Dexter Lawrence instead of rumored Maxx Crosby pursuit
Essentially Sports insider Tony Pauline dropped a bombshell report on Wednesday that suggested the Bengals nearly swung a trade for Maxx Crosby as an effective successor to Hendrickson:
"Sources tell me that long before the Cincinnati Bengals surrendered the 10th pick of the draft to the New York Giants for Dexter Lawrence, the team discussed trading that selection to the Las Vegas Raiders for Maxx Crosby. But the Bengals were unwilling to match the pair of first-round picks the Baltimore Ravens initially sent to Vegas for Crosby before a failed physical nixed the deal."
This would've been such a bad call. Without the benefit of hindsight and the Ravens backing out of the trade, it'd still be the wrong move for Cincinnati's brass to make.
Baltimore did the Bengals a favor by bidding so high for Crosby. Talk about a blessing in disguise. The narrative for a while, up until the Lawrence trade, might've been that Cincinnati watched its top division adversary make a legit splash in pursuit of a Super Bowl, without any rebuttal.
Well, by trading one, not two, first-round picks for Lawrence, the Bengals are proving they're willing to go all-in for that first-ever Lombardi Trophy. They paid far less than Crosby would've cost from a draft capital and contract cost perspective, too.
Swapping out Hendrickson for Crosby would've been an upgrade for Cincinnati, provided the latter stayed healthy. Crosby is a far better run defender, and has at least comparable pass rushing chops. That said, the separation between the two elite defensive ends wouldn't be worth, say, two first-round picks.
In Lawrence's case, he's far more of a force multiplier who can blow up inside runs and elevate the rest of the defensive line. His presence will do wonders for Boye Mafe, Jonathan Allen, and Myles Murphy in the trenches. They're all solid pass rushers in their own right, but having Lawrence to occupy so much attention is about to create a lot of favorable matchups for them.
Nothing against Maxx Crosby. He's an absolute dawg who will win at any cost. He just wouldn't have been the most exciting all-in move the Bengals could've made. Once Lawrence hit the trade block, Duke Tobin and Co. did the right thing. They got a game-changer for one less first-round pick than Crosby would've cost.
Who Dey Nation, we dodged a major setback on this one.
Add us as a preferred source on Google