Baltimore traded two first-round picks to the Las Vegas Raiders for edge rusher Maxx Crosby while looking to rebound from a disappointing 2025 season.
Recent seasons have ended in disappointment for the Ravens, including missing the playoffs in 2025.
The team’s defense, particularly its pass rush, has been a significant weakness despite talent elsewhere.
Welcome to Baltimore, Jesse Minter. The expectation is Super Bowl or bust.
That’s precisely the message the Baltimore Ravens sent when they agreed to send 2026 and 2027 first-round picks to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for standout edge rusher Maxx Crosby.
Minter, the first-year, defensive-minded head coach, is now tasked with elevating the Ravens to a place the franchise hasn’t been since February 3, 2013 – a Super Bowl.
Minter’s predecessor, John Harbaugh, won Super Bowl 47 as the Ravens head coach. But Harbaugh was fired this year because the Ravens had underachieved and flatlined in recent seasons. A three-year span included a home AFC championship game defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, a divisional round playoff road loss to the Buffalo Bills and the 2025 culmination of the Ravens missing the playoffs entirely.
Minter must coach the Ravens into winners, and fast.
However, the onus really falls on a talent-laden Ravens roster (and that’s even before any free agent acquisitions, contract extensions and draft picks).
Lamar Jackson and Ravens star players have underachieved at the most inopportune times.
A Zay Flowers fumble near the end zone in the AFC championship game. A Mark Andrews drop on a two-point conversion in addition to two turnovers by Jackson in the 2024 divisional round loss. There’s also Tyler Loop’s missed 44-yard field goal that sailed wide right in a win-or-go-home Week 18 contest against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
Loop’s errant field goal was a crushing blow to the Ravens’ 2025 season, but it was emblematic of the franchise’s recent failures in the biggest moments.
Ravens have upgraded their personnel. Can they upgrade their results?
Can Minter and his staff help Ravens players be at their best when their best is required?
The Ravens potentially have the most talented roster in the NFL.
Jackson, a two-time MVP, is still the most electric player in the league. Derrick Henry has rushed for 3,516 and 32 touchdowns in two seasons with the Ravens and still has plenty left in the tank. Flowers and Andrews are multi-time Pro Bowlers. The Ravens’ O-line ranked in the top 10 in pass block win rate last year.
Defense, as strange as it sounds to anyone who’s followed this team over the years, has been Baltimore’s Achilles heel. The Ravens finished tied with the Indianapolis Colts as the worst pass defense in the AFC last year and ranked 31st in pass defense in 2024 despite rostering Roquan Smith, Kyle Hamilton and Nate Wiggins. Baltimore’s inability to affect the quarterback was the main reason why the Ravens struggled on defense. The unit ranked 28th in pass rush win rate in 2025, per ESPN.
Yet, Crosby’s arrival significantly upgrades the Ravens at their most vulnerable area. Crosby has registered double-digit sacks in four of his seven seasons. The Ravens didn’t have an edge rusher produce more than 4.5 sacks in 2025, and the entire team only had 30 sacks, the fewest in more than a decade.
With Crosby, the Ravens successfully addressed their most glaring personnel need. Minter is under immense pressure to win immediately.
The Ravens already possess a Super Bowl-caliber roster. Now the responsibility is really on Jackson and the players to perform at their highest level when it matters the most.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
