The Denver Broncos hadn't even finished their celebration for Maxx Crosby getting traded out of the AFC West before the Ravens completed a "return to sender".
The deal between the Raiders and Ravens is off, and Crosby is back with the Raiders. And while initial assumptions were that they would simply trade him to the next highest bidder, Crosby himself has taken to social media to declare that he's with the Raiders to stay.
Time will tell if that ends up being the case, but we have no reason not to believe him when he says, "I'm back."
Maxx Crosby declares what every Broncos fan has dreaded: He's "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
This is about the last bit of news the Denver Broncos and their fans needed at the start of the 2026 offseason. The Raiders have already gotten substantially better this offseason with the additions of guys like center Tyler Linderbaum, linebacker Nakobe Dean, and another linebacker Quay Walker. They have brought back Eric Stokes and traded for Taron Johnson at cornerback.
Getting Maxx Crosby back, along with Fernando Mendoza coming in as the #1 pick to play under Klint Kubiak, will set this team up to make a little bit of noise.
The Broncos have not made a single exterior addition this offseason, and have cut Dre Greenlaw while John Franklin-Myers left for the Tennessee Titans. While the spin right now has been that the team is running it back with a squad that just made it one game away from the Super Bowl, they aren't entirely "running it back".
They just lost one of their best pass rushers, and one of the team's most significant free agent pickups in recent years was just made a post-June 1 cap casualty.
Maxx Crosby has been an absolute menace against the Broncos. Although he's lost every matchup he's played against the Bo Nix-led Broncos, he's got 16.5 sacks against Denver in 14 career games. He also has a whopping 24 tackles for loss and 25 QB hits.
To say that it's a disappointment that he's back in the AFC West and back on the Raiders would be a massive understatement. It was such a big deal that Crosby left, even Broncos head coach Sean Payton said that he texted Crosby after he was traded, and called Jay Glazer to gloat about it.
The celebration and elation of Crosby leaving the AFC West and torturing the Broncos -- win or lose -- was short-lived.