The only real controversy that has emerged during the 2011 draft relates to the trade that wasn’t between the Ravens and the Bears.
To summarize, the Ravens thought they had a deal to slide down three spots, allowing the Bears to come up and grab tackle Gabe Carimi, before the Chiefs had a crack at him. But the Bears failed to advise the league office of the trade, which meant that the trade didn’t happen.
Which meant that time ran out on the Ravens, opening the door for the Chiefs to make their pick.
Fortunately for the Bears, the Chiefs didn’t take Carimi. He fell to the Bears at 29.
Now, the Ravens want the fourth-round pick that the Bears had agreed to ship to Baltimore. And though the Bears have accepted the blame for the snafu, Chicago has not yet offered to cough up the pick.
When the time comes to make their case to the league, the Bears should consider something Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome said eight years ago, after a non-trade between Baltimore and the Vikings caused Minnesota to pass their pick.
“The deal was not consummated,” Newsome said at the time. “A deal is not a deal until I talk to [league executive] Joel Bussert, and I never talked to Joel Bussert.” (Thanks to the reader who forwarded the link.)
In this case, the Bears never talked to the league. So the deal wasn’t a deal. So the Bears don’t owe the Ravens a fourth-round pick.