First of all, wow! The Cincinnati Bengals being at all interested in the Maxx Crosby sweepstakes, only to see the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens score him in a huge trade, is actually kind of a surprise.
The Bengals had the ultimate trade chip in their back pocket if they could have the collective wherewithal to pull off a tag-and-trade situation involving Trey Hendrickson. Kick in a premium draft pick or two. Boom. Done deal.
But nope! Hendrickson is walking in free agency. No trade. I get why the risk-averse Cincinnati leadership didn't want to chance executing a Trey-for-Maxx swap.
Anyway, let's just get into what SI.com's Albert Breer reported at the 11th hour before the free agency tampering period gets underway.
Bengals showed up hilariously late to Maxx Crosby trade suitor party
Here's Breer's key passage on Cincinnati's "efforts" to swing a huge trade for Crosby.
"The Bengals, on the verge of losing Trey Hendrickson in free agency, were another latecomer to the party. By then, over a quarter of the league’s 32 teams had shown some level of interest in Crosby, with a few others that he had less interest in going to throwing their hats in the ring as well."
How predictable (and laughable) is this?
First of all, pulling off the Crosby trade would've looked pretty stupid if Hendrickson wasn't part of the package. It would've taken, well, two first-round picks!
No chance the Bengals were going to do that, despite picking only four slots higher than Baltimore in this year's draft. Crosby is an upgrade over Hendrickson, and a far superior run defender, whose offenses in Las Vegas didn't afford him many late-game chances to make a splash as a pass rusher. Chances are high he'll get those opportunities with Lamar Jackson as his new quarterback.
Last but certainly not least on this matter, Cincinnati's tardiness to even poke around the Crosby situation is so par for the course for this insulated, shortsighted group of nimrods running the show at 1 Paycor Stadium.
It took literal months too long to sign Dalton Risner to a new, meager-by-NFL-standards one-year contract. For an organization that pinches pennies every chance it gets, finding out precisely how much 2026 cap space you have to work with as far in advance of free agency as possible might be a good idea to bookmark in your idea books for future reference!
What did that last sentence even say? Anyway, I sure hope the rumor that the Bengals could be the most "aggressive" team to upgrade their defense via free-agent signings is true. Because my goodness, did they half-bake their effort to go after Maxx Crosby before he ultimately went to the most formidable adversary in their own division.
I bet Duke Tobin called Raiders GM John Spytek, asked what the price for Crosby was, said no, and hung up after about 20 seconds. Nice try, Duke!