Saturday, April 30, 2011

Chicago Bears


The fallout from the botched trade between the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears on Thursday has reached the ownership level.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti expressed disappointment in the Bears -- including their ownership -- after Chicago failed to offer anything more than an apology for the botched trade.
The controversy came when the Bears failed to confirm a trade with the Ravens for the 26th overall pick before time elapsed on the exclusive window for the spot. The Kansas City Chiefs then passed the Ravens in the draft order.
"I'm disappointed in the Bears and the McCaskeys," Bisciotti told the Baltimore Sun of the Bears' owners.
"It is, in my opinion, a deviation from their great legacy. They concluded that their heartfelt and admirable apology was sufficient for our loss. All of us at the Ravens strongly disagree ... probably end of story."
The NFL investigated what happened and, via the Chicago Sun-Times, suggested the Bears comply with the Ravens' request for a fourth-round pick as compensation.
The Ravens ended up taking CB Jimmy Smith at No. 27, and the Bears took OT Gabe Carimi. Both teams said that's who they originally expected to take.
Bears executive George McCaskey told the Sun-Times he was content to let the situation go.
"We spoke to the Ravens about it, and we spoke to the league about it," McCaskey said. "We made a mistake. We apologized for it. The bottom line, as I understand it, the Ravens got the player they were wanting and we got the player we were wanting."
McCaskey demurred when asked if he was willing to agree to the Ravens' compensation request.
"One of the reasons I got out of the legal business is, I was constantly being asked to assess hypotheticals that didn't apply to real life," he told the paper.
"We had a real-life situation in front of us, and we did the best we could under the circumstances. Hopefully, the Ravens understand that."

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