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According to GM Ozzie Newsome, Thursday's decision to trade down out of the first round was not something that came together at the last minute.
Newsome says the Ravens had been in talks with multiple teams about trading down from their 25th overall pick for about two weeks. One of those teams was the Broncos.
The Ravens and Broncos talked again yesterday, and this morning Newsome received a call from Denver with an offer. Other teams remained a part of the discussion, driving up the price, but in the end, the Broncos' persistence won the Ravens over.
"As the draft unfolded, they kept increasing the offer," Newsome explained. "We always felt this was a draft that could be very beneficial to us if we could have multiple picks. Now, we have them."
Newsome says the Broncos upped their offer "at least three different times", and noted that Denver clearly had their mind set on Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who they ended up selecting with the pick they acquired from the Ravens.
With a number of talented players still on the board, was there a temptation for the Ravens to stick at that spot and take someone at 25?
"No," Newsome said. "As the board started to unfold, and as the team started to call us and make us offers about trading out of the pick, we were matching up what's available on the board vs. what we can get from this pick."
There might be some who claim that if the Cowboys hadn't traded up to the 24th pick to grab Dez Bryant, the Ravens would have stayed at 25 and selected the Oklahoma State wide receiver.
Newsome says otherwise.
"You know, as it stands right now, that offer was so good, that if Dez Bryant doesn't get picked in front of us and makes it to us, we probably still would have made the trade," Newsome said. "And to add onto that, we had a chance to move up to that spot that Dallas moved up to to get Dez Bryant, and we decided against it."
