While the arrival of Maxx Crosby gives the Baltimore Ravens what could become one of the most physical defenses in the league, it also sent veteran edge rusher Kyle Van Noy into free agency. And as Van Noy begins looking for his next team, he has already hinted that the 2026 season could be the final chapter of his career if someone signs him.

“As you get later in your career, you get to make the best decision for you…I’m just being very selective this year. I know this will probably be my last year if I choose to play. I really, really think I have enough juice. I’m like Mike Evans. You put me in the game, we make plays, baby,” Van Noy said as per the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

Van Noy, who will turn 35 later this month, has expressed a similar outlook before. During an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, he reflected on the challenges of the 2025 season. He also made it clear that he still believes he can contribute in the NFL despite nearing the latter stages of his career.

“I would love to play more. I know my season didn’t go the way that I wanted at all,” he said. “It was one of those seasons that was hard for a lot of us, especially on defense this year. It didn’t go the way we wanted to on defense with the Ravens, and personally, my statistics weren’t where they have been in the last couple of years, alone all my career.

“I still have a lot of juice left. I still feel like I’m disruptive. I still feel like I can be a starter in the NFL, and it was just one of those years that everyone is going to say all these things. ‘Oh, he’s washed.’ They’ve been saying that for the last five years.”

Kyle Van Noy has built a long career in the league, spending 12 seasons with five different teams. Along the way, he collected several notable achievements. That résumé includes two Super Bowl championships and a Pro Bowl selection.

Still, once the Ravens completed the trade for Crosby, it became clear that Van Noy’s time in Baltimore was nearing its end. After the deal, the veteran edge rusher posted a farewell message on social media.

“Last weekend being officially being a raven! Hopefully we can continue the relationship. Good luck to all the fellas about to get paid and chin up chest out for those gettin fired! Cheers.”

Across his career, Van Noy has recorded 561 total tackles and 57 sacks. He joined Baltimore ahead of the 2023 season and quickly became an important piece of the team’s defensive front.

In his first season with the Ravens, he posted 30 combined tackles and nine sacks. He followed that performance with an even stronger 2024 campaign, finishing with 41 tackles and 12.5 sacks. That season ultimately earned him his first Pro Bowl appearance.

The 2025 season, however, turned into one of the toughest stretches of his career. In 2025, Van Noy finished with 20 tackles, nine quarterback hits, four tackles for loss, four pass deflections, two sacks, and one interception across 15 games.

Now, as free agency approaches, Kyle Van Noy finds himself searching for a new team. And while the Ravens move forward with Crosby as a key part of their defense for 2026, Van Noy remains confident that he still has enough left in the tank for one final season.

The Ravens did something they rarely do when it comes to a trade

It’s not usual for the Ravens to spend draft capital to acquire a player through a trade, let alone two first-round picks. But that is exactly what happened when the franchise traded for Maxx Crosby last week.

Amid reports of multiple teams showing interest in the former Las Vegas Raiders defensive end, the Ravens emerged on top and sent their first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft and 2027 NFL Draft to land Crosby.

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It also marks the first time in the franchise’s 31-year history that Baltimore has used a first-round pick to trade for a veteran player.

The need, however, was clear entering the 2026 offseason. For broader context, the Ravens finished the 2025 season with just 30 sacks across 17 games. That year also marked the first time since the franchise’s inaugural 1996 campaign that Baltimore did not have an edge rusher record more than 4.5 sacks in a season.

Crosby, meanwhile, has built a reputation as one of the league’s most productive pass rushers. The 28-year-old has recorded 69.5 career sacks in his career. It’s more than double what any Ravens defender has produced during that same stretch.

So with the need obvious and the draft capital available, Baltimore wasted little time bringing Crosby in to strengthen its defense for the 2026 season.