The odd thing is:

(1) with the Bears' part in the fiasco, there was harm because the Ravens clearly wanted whoever they got at 29 and the fourth rounder instead of who they got at 27, and

(2) with the Ravens' part in the fiasco, there was no harm because with the reasonably safe assumption they didn't want Baldwin (KC's pick), so their trade down from 26 netted them the same Smith, but

(3) the NFL made the correct call in not granting the Ravens the Bears' fourth rounder as compensation for agreeing to a trade but not making it.

There is no way to know if the Saints would have been able to make the trade had the Ravens-Bears trade went through, so there is no way to know if Smith would have been still available. Yes, it was probably 99% certain but 99% certain isn't 100% certain.

Additionally, the rules of how a trade becomes official is in place. The Ravens contacted the NFL. The Ravens then had to wait on the NFL contacting the Ravens. With time expiring and contact not being made, the Ravens were responsible to turn in a pick while waiting for confirmation. They didn't. If they had lost on Smith and the fourth rounder because of it, it would have been the Ravens' own fault.

One can argue the rules of engagement have plenty of room for improvement, but the rules in place make it the responsibility of the team on the clock to be on the clock until they got confirmation of a trade. The Ravens did not; they put themselves at risk.

If Smith turns out to be the top-drawer corner prognostigators say he could be, the Ravens will have improved their rush on the QB by not playing scared and rushing three so they can litter the secondary with bodies. It's better to have two guys with an IQ of 150 than five guys with an IQ of 60.

Why doesn't Steve Bisciotti buy the Orioles, and name Ozzie his O's GM. Then he can make DeCosta his Ravens GM. It's a win win for everyone. Even for Peter F. Angelos.

Now THAT Meso.....

.....was the best post I've seen from anyone in a very long time.

Brilliant!

There was harm. The Ravens were going to get Smith with the 29th pick AND receive a fourth round selection in exchange for letting the Bears move up. As things worked out:
-the Ravens lost their 26th pick based on their reliance on the offer-acceptance with Chicago, receiving nothing in return (value: low. Baltimore still got their player)
-they ended up drafting Smith two picks ahead of where they would have otherwise taken him, which will cost some incremental amount of additional money in his contract (value: moderate. a few slots of draft position could mean a few hundred thousand more on Smith's rookie deal)
-the Ravens do not have the 4th round pick they were due under the completed verbal contract with the Bears (value: high. Ravens fourth round picks have included Jarret Johnson, LeRon McClain, Dave Zastudil, Ed Hartwell, Edwin Mulitalo, Brandon Stokley, Jason Brown, and Ovie Mughelli).

There CLEARLY was harm done through the Bears completing and trade and then backing out on the terms, and the Ravens should demand that the Bears live up to their agreement. As for the NFL, it is utterly ridiculous that Ozzie called the league with more than three minutes remaining to report the trade, and the league didn't a) confirm the trade with the Bears, or b) notify the Ravens of the Bears' failure to call it in before time expired. 3+ minutes is plenty of time for the league to have managed this better.

Angelo was a man in accepting blame for the mishap last night. Let's see if he's man enough to stand by his agreement.

Angelo is an embarrassment and even the Tribune is writing that the Bears should voluntarily give Baltimore the pick, correcting the situation. The guy has conceded that they had an agreement and he bungled the call-in; they were calling their pick without even notifying the NFL first! It is in the Bears' best interests to give up the pick retain any shred of credibility they have left across the league. Other GMs need to know that when they make a deal with Angelo and the Bears, they are going to follow through with it.

Also the Raven's passed up on other offers for the 26th pick thinking they had a deal with the TeddyBears... So there was harm.

Meso - if only...

Because Steve Bisciotti couldn't afford the Orioles.

O's = 1 Billion dollars (since the 600M MASN is part of that organization) I don't think Steve Bisciotti pockets are that deep.

Could Ozzie do it when HALF as many teams make the playoffs? How many times have the Ravens made the play-offs as the 5th/6th seeds? (I honestly don't know...nor care to research it). Could Ozzie cut it w/o the Salary Cap assistance?

Seems apples to oranges.

Since you brought it up, I do wonder..how many, if any, NFL/MLB executives have changed sports. I'm talking Personal type executives, not the PR, HR, bs. Interesting question.

If memory serves me correctly, a similar screwup between the Vikings and the Ravens in the 2003 draft cost the Ravens a shot at drafting Byron Leftwich, and we ended up taking Kyle Boller with the 19th overall pick. A great defense was a terrible thing to waste by taking a quarterback who barely completed 50% of his passes in his college career. Boller's form was so erratic and inconsistent that his College coach used to strap Boller's left arm to his body in practice to try to get him to repeat his delivery.

That cluster-f*** may have cost the Ravens a championship in the ensuing 5 years.

Is it just bad luck that this is the second time it has happened to Ozzie? Maybe we should ask Sergio Kindle about Ozzie's "luck."

With the 33rd pick, and the first on day two, NE took a CB. Had Smith been on the board, NE might have taken him and not traded with the Saints.

The Ravens could have ended the day by trading the 29th pick to the Saints - and giving us a #1 pick in 2012.

The extra 4th rounder would have most likely equated to a speed rushing DE/OLB vs the heavy legged McPhee we eventually got at the end of the 5th.
We got "Chicago'ed" plain and simple.
Lucky to have gotten our man Smith, who is going to be a GREAT RAVEN. I agree w most, our draft was probably a B+, but that extra 4th would have put the draft rating A.
Tyrod Taylor was a total wasted pick. Simply Camp fodder. Dude will be packing groceries by September 1st.