Ravens to sign Trey Hendrickson after backing out of Maxx Crosby trade: Source

A day after backing out of their agreed-upon trade to acquire pass rusher Maxx Crosby, the Baltimore Ravens pivoted quickly and signed the top available player on the free-agent market.

The Ravens agreed to terms with Trey Hendrickson on a four-year, $112 million deal, according to a league source, ending the former Cincinnati Bengals defensive end’s longer-than-expected stay on the market — he was the No. 1-ranked player on The Athletic’s Top 150 free agents — and surely opening Baltimore up to some more questions about the process.

Baltimore’s decision to scuttle the deal to send two first-round picks to the Las Vegas Raiders for Crosby after the 28-year-old failed the team’s physical was already under fire, with some around the league wondering whether the Ravens simply had a case of buyer’s remorse. That general manager Eric DeCosta moved on so quickly to Hendrickson, who only cost the Ravens a lot of money and not any draft picks, will only lead to more skepticism.

The Ravens, though, had to come out of this offseason with a dynamic pass rusher after finishing with just 30 sacks last year, and Hendrickson was the closest thing available to Crosby. The 31-year-old, who spent the last five seasons in Cincinnati, is a four-time Pro Bowler with 81 career sacks and 15 forced fumbles.

The Ravens are plenty familiar with him, facing him twice a season over the last five years. Like Crosby, Hendrickson is also coming off an injury-shortened season that necessitated a surgery. After playing just seven games in 2025, Hendrickson had core muscle surgery in January to repair a hip/pelvic issue.

When healthy, Hendrickson has been one of the league’s top pass rushers. The nine-year pro, who played his first four NFL seasons in New Orleans, has had double-digit sacks in four of his last six seasons. He had 17.5 sacks in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024. That total led the NFL in 2024, when he was a first-team All-Pro and runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year.

He joins a young and unproven edge-rush group in Baltimore. With Dre’Mont Jones agreeing to sign with the New England Patriots, and Kyle Van Noy and David Ojabo both unrestricted free agents, the only edge rushers on the Ravens’ roster before the Hendrickson acquisition were Tavius Robinson, Mike Green, Adisa Isaac and Kaimon Rucker. Those four have 12.5 sacks between them.

DeCosta said at the NFL Scouting Combine that pass rush was one of the team’s biggest issues in 2025, and he understood that he needed to fix it. Crosby was viewed as the player who would do it, but when that deal was aborted, the Ravens quickly pivoted to Hendrickson.

Hendrickson, whose final two seasons in Cincinnati were marred by contract questions, was said to be holding out for a deal that would pay him $30 million per year. That explains why he was on the free-agent market longer than expected.

Hendrickson is just the second outside unrestricted free agent to agree to a deal with the Ravens, joining veteran guard John Simpson. The Ravens have 10 free agents who have agreed to deals elsewhere, including Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum, fullback Patrick Ricard and punter Jordan Stout.

Hendrickson went through multiple contract disputes with the Bengals over the last three years, including contentious, public exchanges. He signed an extension, demanded a trade, held out, held in and even accepted a raise without an extension during that span.

All that came with the desire to be paid the market value for a player among the NFL leaders in sacks, with a reputation for closing games. The Bengals resisted, citing age and limited impact against the run. But Hendrickson still brings elite pass rush, assuming he fully recovers without issue from the injury.

This story will be updated.