Roster Bonus Killed Rogers Deal

[Bubman]

ROSTER BONUS KILLED ROGERS DEAL

It's still unclear precisely why the trade of defensive tackle Shaun Rogers from the Lions to the Bengals fell through on Friday. One thing we know is that the league office refused to approve it. But the league office won't say what the problem was.

"We consider it club business for the clubs to discuss or not as they deem appropriate," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told us via e-mail. "Teams discuss many trades that are not completed, consulting with our office during the process if necessary."

But neither the Lions nor the Bengals have said much about why the trade was rejected. More accurately, they haven't said much that makes much sense.

Per the Dayton Daily News, Cincy coach Marvin Lewis explained that the rejection of the deal arose from "how Detroit had to count cap figures, and the timing [of it]. It's more in legality terms of league [rules] and how Detroit tried to execute it, and when they did it, it was too late, and so they [the league] just disallowed it."

Ironically, the Bengals took a backhanded swipe at their own web site when discussing media reports that the deal had gone through. Said Bengals P.R. director Jack Brennan: "You're aware that even though this [trade] was incorrectly reported from other sources in the media, we never made an announcement on it. Obviously, for every trade that occurs, there are numerous discussions between teams that don't lead to an actual trade."

The cached version of the story regarding the trade from Bengals.com, which we discovered via our rudimentary Googling skills, makes it clear the team-owned Internet publication was reporting the transaction as a done deal.

So what happened? Our semi-educated guess is that the Lions incorrectly thought that, if they consummated the deal before 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 1, responsibility for Rogers' $1 million roster bonus due as of March 1 would be shifted to his new team. But the league office (again, we're speculating here) might have told the Lions that if Rogers is still on the roster when the clock strikes 4:00 p.m. on February 29, Rogers can't be traded in the eight hours before business opens the following day.

In other words, if the trade wasn't finalized by 4:00 p.m. on February 29, then it couldn't have been finalized before Rogers earned the $1 million roster bonus at 12:01 a.m. EST on March 1.

If we're right on this, it means that the Bengals would have given up a third-round pick, a fifth-round pick, and $1 million in cash and cap space order to get Rogers. Once the $1 million became irrevocably the responsibility of the Lions, a trade went down without the new team having to pay the bonus.

Maybe that's why the Lions got cornerback Leigh Bodden instead of a fifth-round pick from the Browns. Cleveland was able to get Rogers without paying the extra $1 million -- and without having to carry that amount on its salary cap in 2008.

Again, if we're right, we can understand why the Lions and the Bengals are being vague about the reason for the failure of the trade. It essentially means that neither front office understood a basic concepts such as the moment at which responsibility for a roster bonus cannot be avoided. And candor in this regard likely would have led to the same kind of embarrassment that dogged the Vikings after bumbling their first-round picks in two consecutive drafts.

[BengalszoneBilly]

But the league office won't say what the problem was.

Why the hell not? What are they hiding? This smacks of the same stuff that occurred with the destruction of New England's spying tapes.

[Bubman]

And here's another take on it...

Bengals' trade falls apart over roster-bonus issue

By Chick Ludwig

Staff Writer

Sunday, March 02, 2008

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals' proposed trade for Detroit defensive tackle Shaun Rogers fell apart late Friday night, Feb. 29, because of salary cap issues.

The NFL office in New York, which must approve all trades, didn't like the way the Lions and Bengals had arranged the deal. So it was nixed, opening the door for the Lions to trade Rogers to Cleveland for cornerback Leigh Bodden and the Browns' third-round draft pick.

Rogers was owed a $1 million roster bonus at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 1. That's why the Lions were aggressively trying to trade him.

It's believed a league interpretation over roster bonus allocations led the NFL to invalidate the trade.

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was asked for some insight on how the trade fizzled.

Lewis said it had to do with "how Detroit had to count cap figures, and the timing (of it). It's more in legality terms of league (rules) and how Detroit tried to execute it, and when they did it, it was too late, and so they (the league) just disallowed it."

Bengals Vice President Troy Blackburn gave the club's public relations director, Jack Brennan, permission to comment on the proposed trade, which was reported as consummated by numerous media agencies, including The Associated Press, ESPN and the team's Web site, bengals.com.

"You're aware that even though this (trade) was incorrectly reported from other sources in the media," Brennan said, "we never made an announcement on it. Obviously, for every trade that occurs, there are numerous discussions between teams that don't lead to an actual trade."

Greg Aiello, the NFL's senior vice president of public relations, said he didn't know the specifics of how the Lions-Bengals deal failed.

"When teams are making trades," he said, "they'll talk to our office and if there are complications, they'll ask, 'Can we do this? Can we do that? Is this OK? Is that OK?' They are given the answer and either a trade happens or it doesn't happen. We don't announce trades. The clubs do."

The Lions claimed they had a deal with Cincinnati for third- and fifth-round draft picks. They confirmed it. The Bengals didn't, though their Web site reported it. Detroit clearly jumped the gun.

"Trades have to be approved by the league office," Aiello said. "The information is submitted to the league office and signed off on. If there's something improper or something doesn't work about it, then the teams are notified. They either work it out or they just say, 'We'll go our separate ways.'''

Bottom line: Rogers, nicknamed "Big Baby," is a Brown and not a Bengal.

[Pidge]

But the league office won't say what the problem was.

Why the hell not? What are they hiding? This smacks of the same stuff that occurred with the destruction of New England's spying tapes.

Before they denied knowledge of the trade, saying they never recieved the papers. Now this little nugget has been squeezed out of their pompous asses.