It's natural for a guilty party to try to get out ahead of the news and twist the narrative in a favorable way for them. That's why Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta very quickly spoke to the media after backing out of a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for superstar defender Maxx Crosby.
John Spytek, however, has remained silent. He has exclusively operated in the shadows since Las Vegas' AFC foe reneged on a deal that would have sent them two first-round picks. But every report indicates that the Raiders' brass welcomed Crosby back with open arms, and both sides are happy.
Still, Raider Nation has been dying to hear from Spytek in the aftermath of this ultimately failed deal. Well, he finally broke his silence on Thursday afternoon in an exclusive interview, and, as expected, Las Vegas' young general manager was quite gracious and took the high road.
Raiders' John Spytek had positive outlook on Maxx Crosby trade drama
Spytek spoke with JT The Brick at Raiders HQ, and it didn't take long for the topic of the Crosby trade falling through to come up. Instead of bashing Baltimore or coming off as insincere with his remarks, Spytek publicly declared how much he has Crosby's back and stayed above the fray.
"My relationship with Maxx, since I've gotten here, has been great. We had a lot of conversations throughout the season, at the end of the season, obviously through the offseason, and obviously, we were presented with a challenging and difficult decision to make," Spytek explained. "And things have a way of going a certain way and working out the way that they're supposed to. We welcome him (back) like he never left, cause he really never did."
In a way, Spytek is right: Crosby never really left. The team's star player left on a Monday and was essentially back by Tuesday night. Yes, the relationship had been fracturing all offseason, but Crosby was at the team facility throughout that turmoil, and he effectively missed just two days of work.
Raiders fans should also be glad to hear that Spytek's takeaway from this whole ordeal is, essentially, that everything happens for a reason. It seems like Crosby feels the same way, so perhaps the two sides are finally seeing eye-to-eye again, and both have learned valuable lessons.
Ultimately, it will be the Ravens' loss, as Las Vegas is getting back one of the league's best players, and he will be hungrier and more motivated than ever. Spytek finished up his response by detailing that Crosby is back doing what he does best at the Raiders' team facility.
"It's exciting to see him work hard and attack the rehab like we know," Spytek said. "And I know he's going to be back, ready to rock in August this year, and have a bunch of good years ahead of him still."