The Ravens paid a hefty price to acquire center Cam Jurgens from the Eagles this week, a move that came with significant risk given his 2025 back surgery that could still have lingering effects.
Past moves loomed large over the Jurgens trade. The Ravens backed out of their deal for Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby in March after he failed his physical due to long-term concerns about his knee. Adding to the controversy was a multi-day gap between the two clubs’ agreeing to and announcing the trade and Crosby’s physical, resulting in a shocking reversal after free agency had already opened.
Baltimore also sent Jaire Alexander to Philadelphia at last year’s trade deadline, but the veteran cornerback suddenly retired before ever playing a snap for the Eagles. Eric DeCosta and Howie Roseman, the two teams’ respective general managers, have a close relationship. The latter praised the former’s transparency regarding Alexander’s pre-trade physical and mental state even after he stepped away from football, indicating no ill will between the clubs.
Still, both situations likely pushed the Ravens and the Eagles to get all of their ducks in a row before finalizing Jurgens’ move to Baltimore. The Ravens sent a doctor and a trainer to Philadelphia early Wednesday morning to conduct Jurgens’ physical, which was the similar to the one Crosby failed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Jurgens passed, and the trade was announced later that afternoon without a “pending physical” tag that would have certainly stirred speculation about the chances of another cancelled deal.
The two teams “jointly agreed upon this plan,” Schefter adds, noting that it could lead other teams to pursue a similar course of action in future deals, especially when players with injury questions are involved.
The Ravens looked into other centers before reaching out to the Eagles after their loss to the Rams regarding Jurgens. Baltimore “liked him coming out of Nebraska back in 2022,” per The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero, and he now profiles as Lamar Jackson’s long-term center – if his back holds up.
