BALTIMORE — Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta stood behind a microphone inside the team’s fieldhouse in Owings Mills, Md., hands tucked into the back pockets of his faded blue jeans, dressed in a gray sweatshirt, his eyes betraying a night deprived of sleep, and answered questions for 18 minutes early Wednesday evening.

The news conference — announced with barely 90 minutes’ notice — marked the first time that DeCosta had spoken publicly since the Ravens abruptly and stunningly backed out of their blockbuster trade for Las Vegas Raiders star edge rusher Maxx Crosby.

Why had the deal unraveled just four days after it materialized?

“One of the key things is that, you know, we bring the player in and try to get as much information as you can,” DeCosta said. “We did that, and we were not able to complete the process of acquiring the player based on our assessment of the situation. Very, very disappointing to me. Nobody more disappointed than me. A player I greatly admire. I think one of my favorite players in the entire NFL.

“I know our fans are upset, devastated. I understand that — tough, tough situation. But I think for the Ravens, the right situation. My role as GM, and Jesse Minter’s role as head coach and Sashi Brown’s role as president, stewards of the organization — we have to make tough calls, and this was certainly a tough call to make.”

The tough call, DeCosta said, was not a single one but a succession of deliberations — several phone calls with Raiders general manager John Spytek and owner Mark Davis — stretched across the better part of a full day.

Crosby had arrived in Baltimore on Monday, and by Tuesday night the agreement that had come together late Friday — one that would have sent the Ravens’ first-round draft pick this year (14th overall) and next year’s first-round pick to Las Vegas — had collapsed.

Though DeCosta declined to say whether the Ravens backed out because Crosby failed his physical and offered no medical details, that reticence was hardly surprising. Teams never comment publicly on the health of a player under contract with another organization.

Scuttling the deal also raised questions around the league about whether the Ravens felt buyer’s remorse after giving up so much for a player who had undergone eight surgeries over the past seven years.

“We live in that age of skepticism, and people question, especially people that don’t really know me or know the Ravens culture and the Ravens organization, so I understand it,” DeCosta said. “We’ve got a responsibility. I’ve got a responsibility for the Ravens, to this community, to our fans, and to [owner] Steve Bisciotti to do what we think is best for the club. And that’s what we always try to do.

“Nobody’s more upset about this than me; gutted by it actually. And so a regret, a big regret for me. But we will move on as a football team. And I think there’s many, many opportunities for us to grow as a team, to become a better team, to build a roster, and to be the team that we want to be.”

One of those opportunities presented itself roughly 12 hours after the Ravens withdrew from the Crosby trade. Baltimore pivoted swiftly, reaching a four-year, $120 million agreement with Cincinnati Bengals Pro Bowl edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.

Hendrickson, the 2024 runner-up for NFL Defensive Player of the Year, is not quite on Crosby’s tier but is close enough in the league’s hierarchy to address Baltimore’s most glaring offseason need. The Ravens tied for the third-fewest sacks in the NFL last season, a deficiency that often left their defense searching for pressure that never arrived.

A Pro Bowl selection in four of the past five seasons — though also coming off a year in which he appeared in just seven games because of a hip and pelvic injury — Hendrickson has 81 career sacks. He has recorded 17 1/2 in a season twice, including in 2024 when he led the league. He also has 15 career forced fumbles.

He was also the top free agent still available and one of the most coveted defensive players to reach the market this offseason.

Still, the Ravens’ abrupt pivot raised eyebrows around the league. Some wondered why Baltimore would advance so far down the path of a trade, knowing that Crosby had undergone knee surgery in January. That the Ravens were able to secure their next-best option barely a morning later only fueled speculation.

DeCosta, however, said that he was unconcerned that the sequence of events might tarnish his reputation or the organization’s standing with other teams, executives, agents and players.

“It hasn’t stopped my phone from ringing,” he said. “I think our relationship with agents and with other teams is really, really good. I understand the question. I think that GMs understand the importance of getting as much information as possible before making decisions.”

Is there anything he would have done differently?

“I think I’m hard on myself and you question everything you do in this business,” DeCosta said. “You’re never perfect with the draft and with free agency. I think in this particular instance, I’m really proud of the team and the doctors and the guys that work with me. And this is a tough thing that we have to deal with in this business. I don’t really know what we could do differently than what we did.

“There were moments [Tuesday] when, honestly, I was probably speechless, just sitting in my chair in my office and just thinking about what the next step would be and trying to get as much information as possible. … You try to get as much information as you can from as many different sources as you can, and it just didn’t work out.”

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