Maxx Crosby opens up about failed trade to Ravens, return to Raiders

Maxx Crosby was a Baltimore Raven. And then he wasn't.

The two-time All-Pro defensive end was reportedly traded to Baltimore from theLas Vegas Raiders - the team he's spent his entire seven-year career with - for two first-round draft picks on March 6.

On March 10, the Ravens rescinded the trade, reportedly for medical reasons. Crosby had a meniscus injury that affected his 2025 season.

A day later, Crosby took to social media after the Ravens' takeback and subsequent signing of free agent defensive end Trey Hendrickson. The 28-year-old wrote in a post on X: "Everything Happens For A Reason. Believe Nothing You Hear & Half Of What You See. Im A Raider. I'm Back."

Everything Happens For A Reason. Believe Nothing You Hear & Half Of What You See. Im A Raider. I'm Back. Run That Sh*t. pic.twitter.com/8IZXiDYMio

- Maxx Crosby (@CrosbyMaxx) March 12, 2026

On Tuesday, March 17 he elaborated further on what happened in the latest episode of his podcast"The Rush with Maxx Crosby."

This was the first time he's addressed what happened in full on his show. Here are some highlights from what he said.

How he first heard about the trade

Crosby said he was hosting friends at his house, listening to music on the night of Friday, March 6. At 5 p.m. he got a call from his agent CJ LaBoy that Baltimore had a trade offer.

"He's just like, 'Yo, Baltimore just offered two first rounds so stay tuned, (things) might happen soon,'" Crosby said.

Once he got off the phone he spoke with his wife, Rachel.

"I really didn't know what was going to happen," he said. "Like I'm trying to act like everything's cool. I pull Rachel to the side real quick. I'm like, 'Yo, like, this might go down.'"

Crosby cleared everyone out of the house shortly after that and was set to meet up with friends at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas. As he's getting in the car, he gets a call from LaBoy as well as Raiders general manager John Spytek. He answers LaBoy's call.

"So I just picked up CJ's call right away," Crosby said. "So sorry about that, (Spytek). But I was kind of frozen, I didn't know how to react and CJ calls me and goes 'You're a Baltimore Raven.'"

Maxx Crosby's days in Baltimore

The Ravens flew him out on Monday morning, March 9. But he technically had to fly in to Washington, D.C., then take a car ride to Baltimore, which he said was two hours.

"That (expletive) was (expletive) weak," Crosby said.

He ended up heading to the team facilities the next day.

"I come to the building, they drive me up to the facility in the morning," he said. "I got to meet the coaches, do my thing, talk to some of the people around the room. There's some guys still there, got to chop it up with them."

After those pleasantries, he left to go do medical tests and scans. Crosby noted he's had procedures on his labrum, knee, ankle and hand.

"They had to do all those scans again and whatever just to make sure everything is good," he said. "I'm doing all these scans, they took forever."

Before he left for the day, Crosby wanted to meet with new Ravens coach Jesse Minter and general manager Eric DeCosta.

"I wanted to see the head coach. and just cop it up, talk football, talk ball," he said. "He's a defensive guy, never met him before like that. ... I didn't get to meet with him until the end of the day. I didn't get to see (DeCosta) at all.

"I don't know why, I'm not going to speculate. I didn't see him one time."

Ravens reveal medical concerns

Once Crosby finally met with Minter, he said he felt like the energy was off compared to earlier in his trip to Baltimore.

"I go into the room, they sit me down on the couch and he's like, 'Man, I don't know how to say this but one of our doctors has concerns with the results,'" he said. "'With your knee, some of them are concerned about the future.'"

Minter said they'd have to get more opinions.

"In my head I was terrified," Crosby said. "Because I'm thinking in my head like what the (expletive). ... Neal ElAttrache's the best (expletive) surgeon in the country, like the best of the best.

"Is there something wrong? Like I'm freaking out. Like low-key, deep down, I'm like 'I can't get another surgery.'"

Crosby made it back to his hotel and heard directly from ElAttrache.

"He's like, 'Your knee is great,'" he said. "'You're exactly where you're supposed to be or even ahead of schedule, you're doing everything right.'

"He's like, 'You will be back by training camp. That has been the damn timeline since the beginning, that hasn't changed.'"

Ravens back out of the trade and Crosby returns to Las Vegas

Crosby had heard from a Ravens' representative after hours of speculation about the medicals that the team was trying to get something done.

"He's like, 'Yo, we're trying to figure this out, we're going to get this done. Don't worry,'" Crosby said. "Five minutes later, (LaBoy) calls me, he's like 'They're backing out.'"

The Ravens flew Crosby, his wife and the rest of the team out to Las Vegas a couple of hours after they backed out of the deal. All the while, Crosby is seeing the news break and the reactions to it.

"It was like so much going on," he said. "I get back to Vegas like 12:30 (a.m.), like little after midnight in Vegas, and I freaking drive home."

He was back in his routine the next morning.

"I got right up 4:55 the next morning, got my (butt) in the building, right back to work," Crosby said. "Everything happens for a reason. Truly. You can't control that, you could have never predicted that."

His Raiders teammates had sent him messages of appreciation when the initial news of the trade broke. Those messages increased "times 10" when he came back.

"I play the game because I love it, because of my passion since I was a child," he said. "I play for my legacy, I play to win.

"Everything happens for a reason. I'm fired up. I'm here. I'm meant to be a Raider."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maxx Crosby podcast on failed trade to Ravens, return to Raiders