Baltimore Ravens fans experienced a living nightmare on Tuesday evening. After rejoicing about their team landing superstar edge rusher Maxx Crosby in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, the Ravens backed out of the deal in the witching hour. Baltimore's doctors were concerned about long-term knee issues, thus the trade did not materialize. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Steelers fans can only sit back and laugh.
That was the worst part for the Ravens. But a hidden detail makes this sting all the worse for Baltimore.
On Wednesday, NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala reported that the Ravens renegotiated Lamar Jackson's contract on Tuesday to create salary cap space for Crosby's signing (which was expected to happen on Wednesday when the free-agency period officially opened).
Now general manager Eric DeCosta and the Ravens might have just jeapordized their financial future to make cap space for a superstar they don't even have.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans can only laugh at the Baltimore Ravens' Maxx Crosby fiasco
I can imagine what it feels like to be on the other side of the coin. The Ravens haven't been able to get over the hump in the playoffs with quarterback Lamar Jackson and their current team, so adding an exceptional defensive talent like Crosby was the boost that got fans energized.
Not only did the trade fall through, but the Ravens also might have put themselves in a financial bind in the future.
We know that when a team restructures contracts, the cap number has to go somewhere. This gets pushed into the future, making players more costly against the team's total cap space down the line. In this case, the Ravens created cap space this year by pushing a bulk of Lamar Jackson's cap number into future years.
This can be beneficial when teams are trying to capitalize on a Super Bowl window. However, in the case of the Ravens, Baltimore has nothing to show for their costly financial decision.
Here's the worst part: Lamar Jackson was already slated to have outrageous cap numbers of $74.5 million over each of the next two seasons.
With this contract renegotiation, the Ravens could be looking at major financial consequences two seasons from now—consequences that could even dictate Lamar Jackson's future status with the team.
We don't have all the specific financial details yet. And in some strange way, it almost feels like the NFL should give the Baltimore Ravens a chance to undo their salary cap blunder. But I guess that's what you get when you agree to deals for players during the legal tampering period.
And when it happens to a division rival like this, Pittsburgh Steelers fans can only laugh at their misery.