Everybody deals with a bad beat or two occasionally.
Last night should have been an easy win for yours truly.
I took a long look at the schedule for the week, shopped around for the best option to catch up on some sleep after the initial wave of NFL free agency, and made the decision Tuesday was the best bet for an early bedtime.
I bet against chaos last night and lost.
This morning, the regret level is off the charts, although probably not as bad as that guy who shaved his head when Maxx Crosby was traded to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Ravens decided to back out of their trade agreement with the Las Vegas Raiders that would have paid them two first round picks in exchange for Crosby.
After spending the previous few days arguing Baltimore had overpaid, the Ravens got their picks back and pivoted to a four-year deal with Trey Hendrickson that makes a lot more sense for them on paper.
Meanwhile, Bam Adebayo scored 83 points against the Washington Wizards – the second-most points scored in a game in NBA history behind the 100-point game by Wilt Chamberlain all the way back on March 2nd, 1962.
Bam’s previous career-high was 41 points.
The 42-point increase in his career high is the largest in NBA history for a player who had already played at least one NBA game.
I’m on the fence about how I feel with these records being broken in a modern NBA when tanking is such a popular talking point.
36-for-43 from the line is wild.
Transparently, I was on Bam to score the first basket at +350 at FanDuel, so it would have been another bad beat if Bam scored 83 points but couldn’t cash that bet for me.
Elsewhere, Italy stunned the United States with an 8-6 win in the World Baseball Classic.
The top five Italian hitters went a combined 0-for-22 with 10 strikeouts, while the rest of the team went 6-for-11 with three home run and six RBI in the upset victory.
Somebody needs to look at that espresso they are serving in the dugout.
I could probably use some of whatever the Italians are drinking as I try to catch up this morning.
Hopefully, I can get up to speed quickly and feel good about finally getting eight hours.
Let’s start with breaking down the impact of what went down with the Ravens in this Morning Coffee column for Wednesday, March 11th, 2026.
Assessing The Fallout From Ravens Decision To Pull Out Of Crosby Trade
After a frenzy to kick off the first day of the free agency negotiation period on Monday, the biggest NFL news on Tuesday turned out to be the deal that didn’t happen.
The Ravens backed out of a trade with the Raiders for the veteran pass rusher Crosby because of medical concerns that came up during his team physical.
The fallout around the league has been remarkable.
It was so painfully obvious to me that Baltimore had overpaid for Crosby that I was impressed they decided to fold their hand rather than go all-in with the trade.
While the Ravens are among the Super Bowl favourites at FanDuel, I’m not convinced they are one move away from being a championship team, so the decision to commit two first round picks and significant cap space for a 29-year-old coming off a torn meniscus seemed like a reach.
The fact that the money the Raiders would have freed up from the Crosby trade would help them to make centre Tyler Linderbaum the highest-paid interior lineman in NFL history and keep Baltimore from matching seemed like the icing on the cake.
Instead, the Ravens backed out of the deal, kept their two first round picks, and signed Trey Hendrickson away from a division rival.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas will need to pick up the pieces and find the best offer available now that the rest of the league has had an opportunity to negotiate the top free agents available on the open market.
Regardless of the package they get for Crosby, the Raiders have had an excellent start to the first offseason of the Klint Kubiak era.
However, the fact that several teams that need a pass rusher have already had the opportunity to agree to deals with the top free agents complicates the situation and could make it less likely Las Vegas finds what might have been the second-best trade offer available at the time they made the deal with Baltimore.
What impact did the fallout from last night have on FanDuel’s NFL futures markets?
The Ravens to win the Super Bowl climbed from +1000 to +1400 after they backed out the deal, then dipped back down to +1100 after the Hendrickson news.
Baltimore to win the AFC Championship jumped from +440 to +600, then dropped to +500 as a co-favourite to reach the Super Bowl with the Buffalo Bills.
The Ravens to win the AFC North went from -155 to -115 after last night’s news, then shifted back to -140 as the favourite after they agreed to a deal with Hendrickson.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals to win the division dipped from +270 to +240 at FanDuel despite losing their star pass rusher to a division rival.
My initial instinct was that number would have gone in the opposite direction after Baltimore got Hendrickson and its two first round picks back.
As for the Raiders, the focus shifts to finding a trade partner for Crosby after committing $206.2 million in guaranteed money to improve their roster during the initial free agency negotiation period.
Las Vegas will select Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
They’ll no longer pick 14th overall but should be able to add another first-round pick in a deal for Crosby.
Unrestricted free agents cannot officially sign until the new league year officially begins at 4 PM ET today.
It will be interesting to see if we get another surprise or two as teams regroup following the decision by the Ravens to back out of the Crosby trade.
Hopefully, this guy is content with his decision after finding out that Baltimore landed Hendrickson.
Whatever happens next, I’ll be rested and ready to go.
Have a great day, everyone!
