Maxx Crosby was excited about the idea of joining the Baltimore Ravens. But when the unexpected trade fell through, the talented pass rusher expressed his frustration and questioned how everything was managed. Now, Ravens president Sashi Brown responded to the chatter on Monday, downplaying it as just part of a “slow news cycle” instead of a serious blow to the team’s reputation.

“We’ve got strong and long relationships across the league,” Brown said at the league’s annual meeting. “We have emphasized the importance of doing things the right way. We’ll continue to do that. And we understand that it is a headline story because of its profile and significance. We believe our relationships, to the extent that you need time to repair them, people understand who we are and what we’re about.”

The trade had the potential to change everything for the franchise. On March 6, Baltimore had planned to send two first-round picks, including the 14th overall pick, to the Raiders in exchange for Crosby. But even with the agreement in place, the trade depended on a physical exam and fell apart just four days later.

Still, Brown tried to remove any blame from all sides involved.

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“When you have high-profile transactions like this and opportunities like this, it’s unfortunate, but sometimes these things do happen—no fault of Maxx, ours, or the Raiders. It’s just kind of how it played out,” Brown added.

Meanwhile, the Raiders didn’t seem keen on discussing it further. General manager John Spytek kept his comments straightforward.

“Maxx is back like he never left,” Spytek said. “He’s working his ass off to get healthy, and he’ll be ready to rock by training camp, and we expect him to play a bunch of good football for many years to come.”

Interestingly, it was the medical check-up where things got tangled. There were reports that Baltimore had worries after looking at the scans, raising concerns about Maxx’s durability due to a knee issue.

Because of this, the Ravens quickly changed their plans and signed Trey Hendrickson to a four-year, $112 million contract, bringing in a reliable pass rusher without losing any draft picks.

Interestingly, Crosby also added more context to the situation this month.

Maxx Crosby’s Ravens visit left more questions than answers

Just weeks ago, Maxx Crosby didn’t hold back while revisiting his short-lived trip to Baltimore on The Rush podcast.

“I didn’t get to see the GM at all; I thought I was gonna see him when I first got there. I didn’t see him for five hours; I don’t know why; I am not gonna speculate,” Crosby said.

He added, “I even asked, ‘Where’s Eric (DeCosta)?’ You know what I mean? He just made the trade. I didn’t see him for five hours.”

The visit didn’t go as smoothly as Crosby hoped. After landing in the Washington, D.C. area and driving to Baltimore, he found the whole experience to be a bit confusing and disconnected. He waited for hours before finally meeting Eric DeCosta, and even his short chat with head coach Jesse Minter felt strange, as he later mentioned that the vibe was just “off.”

“At the end, they’re like, yeah, I’ll take you up,” Crosby continued.

“Joe was like, I’ll take you up; you go see the head coach, whatever, just before you leave. I was like, ‘Hell yeah,’ I want to say what’s up to him. I went back up, and I dapped him up, and I could just tell, like, the energy was a little bit off. And that was the first time I saw him. Like, I’m so excited, like, fired up, you know what I mean? Like, this is a new opportunity, whatever. And you need to just tell the energy was off.”

Crosby’s take on what happened has sparked more conversations about the behind-the-scenes drama in Baltimore. Despite his frustrations, he has redirected his focus to the Raiders.

For Raiders Nation, his return brings stability, even if the memory of that “off” visit still lingers.