The Bears "declined to compensate the Baltimore Ravens for the botched first-round trade the two teams agreed to but that the Bears did not turn into the NFL," according to a league source cited by Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "encouraged the Bears to surrender some type of draft compensation but when he declined to order them to do so, Chicago opted not to give the Ravens anything." Bears GM Jerry Angelo said Friday, "A mistake was made, no rule was broken." Angelo on Thursday "worked out a deal to send the No. 29 selection and a fourth-round pick to the Ravens, who held the No. 26 pick." The Ravens "called in the trade and Angelo told two staffers to make the call for the Bears." A source said that "each staffer thought the other did it, and the call was never made" (ESPN.com, 4/30). The Ravens "still were able to get their targeted player" in Colorado CB Jimmy Smith at No. 27, and Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome said, "There was a potential for us to lose it, yes. But we got the player, and we're just happy to have him" (Baltimore SUN, 4/30).
APOLOGY ENOUGH? Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti on Friday said, “I’m disappointed in the Bears and the McCaskeys (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” (BALTIMORESUN.com, 4/30). Bears Senior Dir of Ticket Operations George McCaskey "expressed disappointment Saturday in the comments made by" Bisciotti. McCaskey, during the Bears Expo at Solider Field, said, "We made a mistake. We apologize for it. The bottom line is, I understand it as the Ravens got the players they were wanting, and we got the player we were wanting." In Chicago, Vaughn McClure noted McCaskey "somewhat sidestepped Bisciotti’s comments because he did not speak with the Ravens owner personally." But Bears Chair Michael McCaskey and President & CEO Ted Phillips did speak "several times with Bisciotti after the debacle" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/1). SI.com's Peter King writes the "right thing would have been to give Baltimore something -- either the fourth-round pick or some pick to make up for what turned out to be a broken promise." King added, "This is dead wrong, and it's a terrible message to send to fans and people who follow the league" (SI.com, 5/2).
