Last night, the Ravens’ 10-minute window for making their first-round pick expired, a development reminiscent of the misadventures of the other NFL franchise with purple in its color scheme. Like the Vikings in 2003, the Ravens were trying to trade their pick. Specifically, they were trying to trade it to the Bears.
And, like the Vikings in 2003, the Ravens were leapfrogged by at least one team before getting their pick in.
The difference? This time around, the Ravens had a deal in place to move down.
After round one ended, Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo took the blame for the cluster of fudge that unfolded, even though Chris Berman and company didn’t blast the Ravens nearly as mercilessly as they ripped the Vikings eight years ago. But the Ravens want more than an apology.
According to Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Ravens are looking for a fourth-round pick from the Bears, which presumably was the agreed-to trade compensation.
Per Jensen, Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome said that the trade didn’t happen because the NFL never heard from the Bears, one of the key steps in getting a trade approved.
“Everyone was poised,” Newsome said at a press conference. “I was on the phone with the other team. [A Ravens official] was on the phone with [eventual pick] Jimmy Smith. Once that agreement was made, then they have to call the league. . . . The other team never got confirmation with the league.”
Since the Bears claim they got the guy the wanted (offensive lineman Gabe Carimi), it makes sense for the Bears to honor the agreement. If they don’t, the damage within the league to the reputation of Angelo and anyone else involved with the trade on the Bears’ side of things would be far worse than the value of a fourth-round pick.
It would be fitting if, in the end, the guy who failed to make the call was Bears offensive line coach Mike Tice, since he was head coach of the Vikings the last time the clock expired on a team in the first round.