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The Cleveland Browns are downright on and off the field. Yesterday, the Browns failed to complete an 11th hour trade for Bengals QB AJ McCarron because they forgot to send the NFL an email with all the paper work before the trade deadline.
Via The Cincinnati Enquirer
So, the Bengals signed and filed their version of the agreed-upon deal just before the deadline. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported that the Bengals copied the Browns on that filing.
The Browns sent a copy of the deal to the Bengals, but The Enquirer confirmed the original ESPN report that the Browns did not send anything to the league. (That was also confirmed by The Cleveland Plain Dealer.)
Lewis was asked if he ever heard of a trade not be
“I don’t know that I’ve ever really heard of one,” he said.
“All you have to do is notify the league office you’re making a deal. And that’s an easy thing.”
While the Browns are blaming the Bengals for the mix-up, one NFL executive has a different view on the matter.
Try again: #Browns sent signed doc to #Bengals to sign and send to league, but #Bengals sent doc to #NFL only signed by them
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) October 31, 2017
Via Cleveland.com
One high-level NFL personnel man also said “it would be crazy for the Browns to expect the Bengals to send the Browns’ paperwork to the NFL. They know they have to notify the league themselves.”
Another said, “The Browns know how to execute a trade. If they had really wanted to make this deal, they would have.”
Several sources have told cleveland.com that the personnel department — which values its draft picks very highly — didn’t want to make the trade in the first place, and that’s why it wasn’t agreed upon until 10 to 20 minutes before the deadline.
Ridiculous.