A day before free agency opened, the Ravens and wide receiver Ryan Grant agreed to a contract. Two days later, Grant still hasn’t signed it. And he might never sign it.
Grant failed his physical with the Ravens, according to multiple reports.
NFL contract agreements are contingent on a player passing a physical, but it rarely becomes an issue because teams usually have a good idea of any injuries a player might be recovering from. In the case of Grant, it’s unclear what the issue is. Grant has played all 16 games in all four of his NFL seasons.
The agreement between Grant and the Ravens points to one of the drawbacks of the “legal tampering” period, when agents and teams are allowed to agree on the parameters of a contract, but players are not allowed to visit team facilities or get checked out by team doctors. If Grant had been allowed to take his physical from the outset, both he and the Ravens would be in a better place now: Grant would have been able to shop himself to other teams, hoping that whatever issue concerned the Ravens’ medical staff could be cleared by another team’s medical staff. And the Ravens would have been able to find another receiver, before many were signed by other teams.
Now Grant remains a free agent and the Ravens remain looking for a wide receiver.