BALTIMORE — Maxx Crosby out, Trey Hendrickson in.

Less than 24 hours after the Ravens backed out of their agreement to send two first-round draft picks to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for Crosby over a failed physical, they reached an agreement on Wednesday morning with the Cincinnati Bengals’ free agent star pass rusher, a source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. The deal is worth $120 million over four years.

Hendrickson, the 2024 runner-up for NFL Defensive Player of the Year and a four-time Pro Bowl selection, was the top free agent still available and one of the top overall players to hit the market this offseason. The pivot by the Ravens and general manager Eric DeCosta to fork over $30 million per year, including $60 million guaranteed, for Hendrickson also came quickly after they stunningly reneged on the agreement for Crosby. Now, Baltimore will keep its draft picks while still getting one of the league’s top pass rushers, something that will raise uncomfortable questions about potential buyer’s remorse and lead to finger-pointing about how things unfolded.

Like Crosby, who underwent knee surgery in January, Hendrickson is also coming off an injury-shortened season that ended in surgery. He appeared in just seven games in 2025 before undergoing surgery in December to repair a hip/pelvic issue.

His addition just hours ahead of the official start of the new league year also plugs a major hole.

The Ravens were in desperate search of an elite pass rusher after finishing with the third-fewest sacks (30) in the NFL last season and being one of the worst teams at generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks. After pulling the plug on Crosby, Hendrickson was the next best option.

A third-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2017 who spent the past five seasons with the Bengals after signing with them in free agency, Hendrickson was a Pro Bowl selection in four of the past five seasons and an All-Pro in 2024. He has 81 career sacks and twice had 17 1/2 in a season, including in 2024 when he led the league. He also has 15 career forced fumbles.

That should be an immediate boost to a defense that badly needs one.

Even with dynamic and versatile All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, Pro Bowl linebacker Roquan Smith, ascending defensive tackle Travis Jones and perhaps promising news on injured defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, Baltimore has not had a disruptor on the edge since the franchise’s all-time sack leader and two-time Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist Terrell Suggs, who was also on the Ravens’ most recent Super Bowl winning team in 2013.

Hendrickson is the kind of closer who can lift a Ravens team that, in the past five years, has blown more leads in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter (16) than any team in the NFL.

Baltimore also now has more draft picks to work with than before its scuttled deal for Crosby.

The Ravens will have 11 selections in next month’s draft, including the 14th overall pick. That will allow them to address myriad needs after losing nine players, including several who were starters or key contributors, in free agency.

DeCosta said at the NFL scouting combine last month that pass rush was one of the team’s problems in 2025 and there was a desire to fix that. Crosby is the type of high-motor, game-wrecking edge rusher who was believed to be the solution.

Instead, they will rely on a familiar player in Hendrickson, who adds talent and experience to a young but unproven group of edge rushers. 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 other edge rushers on the roster are Tavius Robinson, second-year second-round pick Mike Green, oft-injured Adisa Isaac and Kaimon Rucker, with the four having combined for 12 1/2 career sacks.

The about-face on the Crosby trade has also raised questions around the league, however.

“The whole league is surprised,” one league source told The Baltimore Sun. “It’s not like [Crosby’s] knee was a mystery.

“[Backing out] doesn’t look good at the very least.”

Another league source said the Ravens also overpaid for Hendrickson, describing him as crafty but not with the same level of disruption as Crosby, but noted that they got to keep their draft picks and were in a bind. The source also noted that the way events unfolded will raise questions around the NFL.

Physicals also can leave room for gray areas, and teams have different levels of risk acceptance depending on the level of commitment or investment a team has, though questions will continue to linger, both sources said.

Never before had the Ravens traded a first-round pick for a veteran player. In initially agreeing to send two to the Raiders for Crosby, they outbid the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars, among others.

Instead, Hendrickson becomes just the second outside unrestricted free agent the Ravens have agreed to a deal with this week, along with veteran guard John Simpson. Eight of their own players, including Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum, All-Pro punter Jordan Stout and All-Pro fullback Patrick Ricard, agreed to deals with other teams, leaving more holes that need plugging.

In the end, the Ravens would have preferred Crosby, but in landing Hendrickson, they got an edge rusher they badly needed.

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