[Blogs] Bears Take Blame For Expired Pick

[BR News]

Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome has made numerous draft-day trades during his career.

But what happened on Thursday night was new for him.
 
Newsome believed he had a trade with the Chicago Bears to move back from No. 26 to No. 29 in the first round and reportedly pick up an extra fourth-round pick.
 
As he always does, Newsome called the NFL – with 2 ½ minutes remaining on the clock – to make the trade official. And he waited, and waited for confirmation.
 
Ultimately, the NFL spokesman on the other end of the line told Newsome he needed to make a pick. Chicago never called the league to confirm the trade and the Ravens ran out of time.
 
“Long day,” Newsome said to open up the team’s press conference minutes after making the pick.
 
“There was an agreement made between the team and I. I got on the phone with the NFL, but the other never got confirmation from the league. At that point, I was asked by the league to make the pick.”
 
The allotted 10 minutes for Baltimore to make its selection ran out, meaning any team afterwards could run to the podium to make its pick before the Ravens. It’s a rarity in the draft, last happening to the Minnesota Vikings in 2003.
 
The Kansas City Chiefs automatically leapfrogged Baltimore, and could have taken Smith off the board, but chose Pittsburgh wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin instead.
 
The Ravens had a draft card with Smith’s name on it ready to turn in at Radio City Music Hall, and quickly handed it in right after the Chiefs made their pick.
 
Chicago Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo took the blame for the mishap. He told reporters that he called Baltimore to apologize.
 
“It was our fault,” Angelo said.  “They did everything according to the rules. … We had a disconnect. Whatever you hear, Baltimore did everything right.”
 
The Bears were looking to trade with Baltimore to select Wisconsin tackle Gabe Carimi, Angelo said. They were fearful Kansas City was going to take him at No. 27. When the Chiefs took Baldwin, the Saints traded up with New England to snag Alabama running back Mark Ingram at No. 28 and the Bears still got their man in Carimi at No. 29.
 
In the end, the Bears’ error cost the Ravens a fourth-round pick. But Baltimore did get the player it wanted.
 
“If we would have gotten back on the clock [at No. 29] and Jimmy would have been there, yes we would have taken him,” Newsome said. “We got the player and we’re just happy to have him.”
 
In an interview with WBAL radio, Head Coach John Harbaugh said Newsome remained calm in the war room despite the mishap and confusion – even though there was a chance their player could have been taken.
 
“I think we’ve got a strong board,” Newsome said. “If we’d have lost Jimmy, then we felt there are other players on this board that would have helped our football team that we would have been able to get.”

[url=http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/2011/04/29/bears-take-blame-for-expired-pick/]View the full article[/url]

[scrock]

damn bears, we could have traded back gotten jimmy still and a 4th round pick..

[DefenseWinsChampionships1]

I am so heated right now at the Bears. They cost us our 4th round pick which couldve beent the difference between winning the superbowl or not.. we are so close to getting there and a little irrelevent team like the Bears gets in our way deserves a beatdown for sure they are SO lucky they dont see us this year because the so just drafted themselves a beatdown.. but im so glad we got Jimmy Smith.. I still think we need one more corner out of this draft

[BleedPurple24]

they should give us that 4th round pick anyways...that was the deal and both teams got what they wanted. Fork it over Chicago!!

[Mahatma_Sloth]

did we lose our fourth? or did we just not get theirs? oz said we still have 8 picks left in the presser

[wrathoftheraven]

As an Illinoisan, I can't hate too much on the bears, and you know what? The Ravens got Smith, Chicago got Carimi, and everyone got what they wanted. It could've been better, but we might've lost Smith too.

[vjecmenic]

we got a player we wanted - leave it there. It is a god thing that this error didn't cost us. It would gave us 4th round pick but what we didn't have - we could not lose it, in the first place.

[bioLarzen]

[quote name='Mahatma_Sloth' timestamp='1304063749' post='673910']
did we lose our fourth? or did we just not get theirs? oz said we still have 8 picks left in the presser
[/quote]

Hi,
very possibly the latter. I don't see why we would lose our 4th round pick. As far as I know, the only "penalty" for a team for missing thier turn is that they can only pick later - I know of no additional "penalty".

The fourth round pick in question would have been the Bears' one, that they would have given us (plus their first round one) for our first round pick.

Shame, because that would have been just another piece of Ozzie-magic: bot teams draft the player they would have without the trade, plus we'd have come up with one extra fourth-round pick...

I've got a conspiracy theory: what if the Bears somehow learnt that the Browns won't pick Carimi, so they don't need to leapfrog them - but the trade was already made? Can a team "legally" back out from a trade before they report it to the NFL?

bio

[bioLarzen]

[quote name='vjecmenic' timestamp='1304067623' post='673926']
we got a player we wanted - leave it there. It is a god thing that this error didn't cost us. It would gave us 4th round pick but what we didn't have - we could not lose it, in the first place.
[/quote]

Yeah, you're right - but we virtually had it... so hard to look at it like we didn't lose it - even if technically, you're right, we didn't have it. It's like that mock scratch-off card that always wins (10 grands), but the fine print on the back says you can collect your money from your family... You never really won the money, still you feel you were robbed when you learn you're never gonna...

But, you're right, the best thing we can do is move over - after all, we got the player we wanted.

bio

[BMoreHEMI]

Nice that the Bears did own up to it though... would've been nice to get the extra 4th but no harm no foul I guess

[floridafan]

I bet there was some strong language used in that room last night. I could not stay up and watch so this comes as quite a surprise this morning. Hopefully we did not lose out on anything. Go Ravens.

[Free Agent]

Good to hear the Ravens weren't at fault for that one. And its a shame that the Ravens couldn't get that pick.

[vjecmenic]

[quote name='bioLarzen' timestamp='1304070524' post='673939']
Yeah, you're right - but we virtually had it... so hard to look at it like we didn't lose it - even if technically, you're right, we didn't have it. It's like that mock scratch-off card that always wins (10 grands), but the fine print on the back says you can collect your money from your family... You never really won the money, still you feel you were robbed when you learn you're never gonna...

But, you're right, the best thing we can do is move over - after all, we got the player we wanted.

bio
[/quote]

I can't agree more ) It feels bad knowing that we could have another 4th round pick. From this perspective it looks like a loss. But there was a possibility that J.Smith would be taken before 29th pick (Ozzie commented that in the press)
As you said, my point was to move over (thinking about a possibility that we we could have another pick is annoying )

[teamrave222]

we got the player we wanted, but that misunderstanding showed me how confused the coaches and front office are. i hope they can get on the same page before the season starts. And we all know that was one of our problems last year too

[BlackRaven5220]

teamrave222, I know that it's hard to keep up but there was no "misunderstanding" on the Ravens part. They did everything correct. The Bears screwed up and have admitted it. Hopefully, the Ravens get your blessing now.

[Rome52]

Im gonna need TeamRave to get on the "same page" and read the article more closely it didn't sound like we were confused at all..

[throwback2000]

Da Bears!!!

[rayricravens97]

harbs will trade out of the second rd. if he can not get: hankerson (wr)torrey smith (wr) titus young (wr) brandon harris (cb) or daquan bowers (de)

[monahco]

I really want them to get Hankerson. I've been watching highlights and the guy is a beast. Anybody that can break Andre Johnsons record at Miami and trains with Mark Duper in the offseason is something special.

[burnstr19]

I wouldn't mind trading up in the 2nd to get Young and Bowers building for the future.

[Davido52]

Chicago would have created an enemy if Kansas City would have drafted Jimmy Smith.

[matrixphijr]

As someone posted on another topic this morning, we could still get the Bears pick as compensation.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/29/

Good to see that the Bears rightfully took the blame. If Chicago wants to keep their reputation with us and other teams (especially for future draft trades), they probably should give us the pick, since both teams got who they wanted anyway.

[thor446109]

I'm not gonna lie, it was definitley confusing and annoying watching last night as the Cheifs came up and all that was said was the Chiefs were on the board and we had passed. But to be quite honest, people are freaking out a little too much over this thing. If Jimmy Smith was number 1 on the board at the time, and there was no talk of a trade we probably would have taken "the best player on the board" anyways. If the trade had gone through and he were still there, guess what...we probably were gonna take Jimmy Smith. Losing an extra 4th round pick is what makes this thing so sour. Don't let the feeling of losing an extra pick deter the quality of a pick we virtually had all along. Ozzie and everyone in the war room know what they're doing people. Talent wise I think it's a great pick. Now comes the point of making sure the off-field issues don't consume him and he becomes a younger version of C-Mac.

[Raven in ATL]

[quote name='teamrave222' timestamp='1304078963' post='673985']
we got the player we wanted, but that misunderstanding showed me how confused the coaches and front office are. i hope they can get on the same page before the season starts. And we all know that was one of our problems last year too
[/quote]

reading comprehension

[balfan23]

Too bad Chicago screwed it up, because I think we'd have gotten a 4th round pick and would have still ended up with Smith. The Ravens knew that - otherwise, they wouldn't have been willing to trade down.

[fanfromthesouth]

I'm just glad we managed to get a pick, and a good one at that. I just hope if we plan on making any more trades, we get it done so we don't have a repeat of last night.

[Zhoup]

[quote name='DefenseWinsChampionships1' timestamp='1304060079' post='673886']
I am so heated right now at the Bears. They cost us our 4th round pick which couldve beent the difference between winning the superbowl or not.. we are so close to getting there and a little irrelevent team like the Bears gets in our way deserves a beatdown for sure they are SO lucky they dont see us this year because the so just drafted themselves a beatdown.. but im so glad we got Jimmy Smith.. I still think we need one more corner out of this draft
[/quote]

Don't blame Chicago or the Bears; Blame Jerry Angelo the Bears GM. Usually he gets it wrong and screws us over. This time he got it right, but screwed someone else over. Unfortunately, you guys got a taste of what us Bears fans have been dealing with for 10 years now.

Good luck on the rest of the draft.

[Prime]

I want Titus Young in round 2! Torrey Smith is fast, humble, etc. but compare the two on video and Young has moves (and start/stop ability) Smith can't come close to matching (no offense to Smith. Love him as a person).

[The Greek]

lets trade up now and get flacco his receiver or work on the o-line in rd 2

[Gordo52]

Round 2 lets get Young,Hankerson,or Smith.
pllzzzzzzz!