Receiver Ryan Grant was involved in one of the more bizarre situations of last offseason. The former Redskins receiver looked like he was about to cash in big time, and signed a four-year, $29MM contract with $14.5MM guaranteed with the Ravens. But soon after, the Ravens slapped him with a failed physical designation and voided the contract, making him a free agent again. He ended up settling for a one-year, $5MM deal with the Colts. Now he’s on to a new team, signing a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Raiders earlier this week. In a recent interview with Sirius XM, Grant dished on what happened with Baltimore and finally explained all the details.
Grant said the Ravens just got cold feet and that the injury that made him fail the physical wasn’t anything serious, just a “mild ankle sprain,” as he put it. Even though he lost out on a significant amount of money, Grant isn’t bitter about it and said he’s genuinely happy to be in Oakland. “I feel like, had I signed with the Ravens, they probably would have, you know, did some other shady stuff to get me traded or released or something like this. So I’m thankful that they did what they did,” Grant explained. “I’m happy where I am now. Super excited to be a part of the Raiders organization. It’s the spirit and the culture of the team. And it just feels like I’ve been drafted all over again. I’m just so ecstatic,” he continued.
Here’s more from around the league:
- With Jimmy Garoppolo set to return from his ACL tear next season, the 49ers suddenly have a surplus at quarterback. Both C.J. Beathard and Nick Mullens are on the roster, and both have at the very least looked like above average backups during their time on the field. Beathard is a 2017 third round pick from Iowa who has started games in both of his first two seasons, and Mullens is a 2017 UDFA from Southern Miss who impressed when he was suddenly thrust into the starting role last season. Both are on cheap rookie deals, and there’s been a lot of speculation San Francisco could look to trade one of them. However, Matt Maioccio of NBC Sports thinks the 49ers will end up keeping all three signal-callers next season. Maioccio also writes it’s “difficult to believe that either has significant trade value around the NFL,” which is a fair point. Both Beathard and Garoppolo have suffered numerous injuries during their brief careers, so it makes sense why they’d want the depth.
- Tom Dundon, the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and the lead investor in the AAF, made the call to shutdown the upstart league largely because they were unable to negotiate an agreement with the NFLPA. Dundon wanted practice squad and other bottom of the roster players to be allowed to play in the AAF, but a deal couldn’t be struck in time. Dundon has sought to cast blame for the league’s demise on the NFLPA, but Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com argues the union doesn’t deserve any of the blame. Florio casts Dundon’s case as a “flawed argument,” and breaks down why practice squad players wouldn’t have suddenly saved the league. Dundon essentially came in out of nowhere and tried to strong-arm the union, so it’s hard to disagree with Florio here.
I can’t imagine keeping 3 QB’s and 5 RB’s. Trade or cut Bethard
Probably would only be a swap of late picks or a 6th rounder straight up.
It’s easy to disagree w/ Florio, but if you do on PFT, they’ll just delete your comment. Weak mind bunch. Afraid of different views.
While I agree with you he is wrong a lot but not on this one. To start up a league and to start playing and then suddenly stop due to practice squads is nothing more than an excuse. Either strike the deal before starting or run the league for awhile and make the nflpa want to make a deal with you. Why would they make a deal with such a shaky operation and risk injury or worse for it?
I agree with you. But the league should have setup parameters before kicking off. How many times were we told its a bunch of former NFL people involved? It was airing on CBS and NFL network, so so me revenue stream was being generated.
As for Florio, he’s a hack. He tries to over dramatizse every single story. PFT reads more like a soap opera than actual news.
Mullens looked good last season. The Redskins should send a 4th or 5th out San Francisco’s way for Mullens instead of a 1st or 2nd to Arizona for Rosen.
Mullen’s would be a good backup for Tom Brady. Sit, watch, learn….then take over.
“Hi. I invested in a very risky business venture and it’s not doing as well as I hoped it would and if you don’t help me financially and the league goes under, then it’s YOUR FAULT!”
-Tom Dundon
Dundon was not asking the NFLPA for any financial help. It was actually Ebersol and Polian who went to Dundon for financial help and gave him a controlling interest. The league failed because the founders didn’t build a solid foundation in the first place so if anyone should accept blame it should be them.
Why is Beathard even in the mix for backup?? Mullen’s proved his worth when he REPLACED Beathard
Because if garapollo goes down again, then you need a back up and for shanahan it really needs to be someone who know his system. Beathard likely isn’t around more than this season, if jimmy stays healthy.