00:00The Ravens in their 31-year history have never traded a first-round pick for a player until Friday night
00:05where they traded not one, but two.
00:08Their first-round pick this year, which is 14, and their first-round pick next year for Max Crosby, who
00:13had just signed a three-year extension with the Raiders a year ago.
00:17Shocking. I was totally shocked when the news broke Friday night.
00:22And when we were last together, Ken, on Thursday, we were bringing up the Max Crosby of it all, and
00:28the expectation was that he was going to get traded prior to the start of the league year, and they
00:33were searching for two first-round picks.
00:35We didn't think that it would get to that point, but I'm for it.
00:39I am all for this move.
00:42You could quibble over the fact, okay, two first-round picks might be a little steep, but this is the
00:47type of move that Ravens fans and everyone have been asking for.
00:52From Eric DaCosta for years now, taking that big-time swing, and this is a dude on the defensive side
01:02of the football.
01:03Now, this is a player that can wreak havoc, unlike the kinds that we haven't seen since Terrell Suggs left
01:11the building in 2018.
01:13And this, the new age, play like a Raven, Max Crosby plays with his hair on fire, and he plays
01:20every damn snap, Ken.
01:22His last five games in a Raiders uniform, he played 100% of the snaps.
01:29Oh, he doesn't come up with the field.
01:30Every other defensive lineman in the league combined, they didn't have a single game with 100 snaps.
01:37This is an elite player against the run, and it's also a guy that has four double-digit sack seasons,
01:45including last year, in which he missed a couple of games.
01:47And what makes it even more impressive, Ken, is the Raiders have stunk his whole time there.
01:54They had one playoff season in 2021.
01:57So it's not like this is a player that can tee off on quarterbacks playing with a lead.
02:02They were trailing at all times.
02:05I kept being so interested in seeing how Eric DaCosta would operate differently this offseason, because last year was really,
02:16really rough.
02:17But he came out of the gate swinging for the fences.
02:20So, and you weren't here Friday, but Beltway, Ben, I just, we were talking, Cordell and I were talking about,
02:27I thought they were going to make a big swing this weekend.
02:30Now, I also thought Rashad Bateman would be part of any trade that they made.
02:33He was not.
02:34I did have the feeling they were willing to trade a one.
02:38I did not think they'd trade two ones, but that was the cost of doing business.
02:42Allegedly, the Cowboys offered a one and a two.
02:44The Ravens offered two ones.
02:46But this is the cost of doing business for getting a dude.
02:49Like, this is, they have lacked this guy, as you said, since Suggs left the building.
02:54They have lost in the postseason because they can't get after the quarterback.
02:58This guy's a game wrecker.
03:00They have not had a game wrecker in years.
03:02They haven't.
03:03And they haven't paid for pass rush since Eric DaCosta has been a GM.
03:08They've taken some swings.
03:10Owe was a first-round pick.
03:11Ajabo was a second-round pick.
03:13Adiza Isaac.
03:14Mike Green was a second-round pick.
03:16But it hasn't panned out.
03:18And what's the definition of insanity?
03:20Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
03:24So that's why, look, two first-round picks is a lot.
03:26But I applaud Eric DaCosta for taking that swing.
03:30And I think this is a player you're going to get everything out of Max Crosby.
03:35And to bring him in with Jesse Minter in his first year, like, this is a new age right now.
03:42You got a brand-new coaching staff for the first time in 18 years.
03:46And you pull off a trade that is unprecedented in this 31 years of the Ravens existing.
03:53And the other thing is, Crosby should be a force multiplier.
03:56Like, I think Mike Green on the other side should be better for the fact that Max Crosby is on
04:02the opposite side.
04:03Now, I don't know what's going on in the interior.
04:05We did on the same evening that we saw Max Crosby got traded.
04:09We saw Nnamdi Matabike post a workout video.
04:13And, you know, prayers up to Nnamdi.
04:15Hopefully he can play football.
04:17Well, hopefully his life's okay.
04:18But, like, for Ravens fans, they hope he can play football at a high level.
04:22We still do not know what's going on with Nnamdi Matabike.
04:25And I think they need to work on the interior regardless.
04:28But this is – and it's funny.
04:31We talked about Brandon Bean last week.
04:33And he makes the big DJ Moore move.
04:34And this is a coach got fired, GM stays.
04:37They got to change the way they do business.
04:38Well, I think Eric DaCosta said, hold my beer, Brandon Bean, because I'm going to go get a game-wrecking
04:44defensive player.
04:44I'm not going to get a number two slot receiver.
04:47I'm going to get a game-wrecking defensive player.
04:50And, yes, I'm giving up a lot.
04:52But remember we had the call on Wednesday or Thursday.
04:54And he's like, well, why don't they just sign this guy and this guy?
04:56Why trade these assets?
04:57And I had to explain to him why you trade these assets because it's a sure thing and the other
05:01things aren't sure things.
05:02And then he didn't respond because I check-made it.
05:05Yeah, he did.
05:06But, alas, Beltway, Ben, what do you think of the trade?
05:12I'm all in.
05:12Love it.
05:13You guys know it, Max.
05:14I don't know how I feel about that.
05:16It's not something we normally see, but it's big time.
05:20We talk about they needed a pass rush.
05:22And drafting a 13 this year, again, this year's draft feels like pick 8 to 13 or 14 is such
05:29a large drop-off.
05:31You weren't going to get Ruben Bain.
05:32And trading up in drafts, you're giving – I don't know they were going to have to give up another
05:36first,
05:37but they were going to have to move something else heavy to move up to get a Ruben Bain type.
05:41So you're giving up two firsts.
05:42But in both of those drafts, you were swinging for a Max Crosby type.
05:46And odds are next year you're back in the playoffs.
05:49You're in a really good spot.
05:50You're not getting anything like that.
05:51I know Max Crosby was a day three pick and all that.
05:53But you're not getting something this immediate return.
05:55Lamar Jackson only has a few years left of his prime.
05:57This is a true all-in win-now move.
06:00And it does – we'll get to it more around the beltway.
06:01It does always make me laugh after the trade.
06:03Now it's all the – it was the overpay.
06:05We saw him decline last year.
06:07Watch the guy play football.
06:08This is a premier football player.
06:11Among all defensive linemen since he's entered the league in 2019,
06:15he's number one in tackles for loss, number one in solo tackles, number two in pressures,
06:19number two in quarterback hits, number four in batted passes, number five in sacks.
06:24This is a premier football player, and Eric DaCosta took a huge swing.
06:29Yeah, credit to Eric because this is not like him.
06:33And this is probably – I don't think he's – that he felt super comfortable making this move.
06:37But he knew he had to take a big swing, and he took a big swing on a premier pass
06:43rusher.
06:43They had 30 sacks a year ago.
06:45It's also realizing this, guys, where you look at the landscape of the AFC.
06:52There's a lot of holes that need to be filled, and the Ravens have lost some free agents,
06:56and we'll get to that on the other side.
06:58But this is as wide open as the AFC has been since Eric DaCosta has been a GM since 2019.
07:08It's realizing that fact and making this move.
07:12By the way, we'll get to all the other stuff in a minute, but if you're just tuning in,
07:15and Tyler Linderbaum signed a three-year, $81 million deal with the Raiders, 27 a year.
07:23The next highest-paid center is Creed Humphrey at, what, 18.
07:26So he destroyed that.
07:27He's the highest-paid interior offensive lineman now.
07:30Going a step further, the $27 million per year is the sixth biggest annual value contract for a lineman.
07:39Tackles, left tackles, right there.
07:41For an offensive lineman, it is the sixth-highest annual number for Tyler Linderbaum.
07:47Unbelievable.
07:47Unbelievable.
Comments