Less than a day after Steve Bisciotti made seemingly harmless comments about the future of former Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, his new team squashed any possibility of tampering charges being filed.
Addressing season-ticket holders in a conference call on Wednesday, Bisciotti said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the five-time Pro Bowl selection re-signing with the Ravens next offseason after he was traded to the Detroit Lions last month. This raised a few eyebrows as some suggested the comments could qualify as tampering, especially in light of the ongoing saga between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots over All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis.
“He could be a free agent a year from now, and we may be watching the second coming of Haloti Ngata,” said Bisciotti, pointing to the 2006 first-round pick only being under current through the 2015 season. “Who knows? I’d never give up hope that we couldn’t get him back.”
Reflected in a statement released by the Lions on Thursday afternoon, the Ravens reached out to Detroit to clarify comments Bisciotti was making to fans about a player who had just spent nine years in Baltimore. It appears Detroit understands Bisciotti was simply stating the obvious in answering a fan’s question and sharing that the sides had no hard feelings.
Of course, it helps that the teams share a good relationship with former Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell serving as Lions head coach and former secondary coach Teryl Austin now Detroit’s defensive coordinator. Had the words been about a former player playing for Pittsburgh or New England, the response might have been different.
“We appreciate both the Ravens’ professionalism and the context in which Mr. Bisciotti’s statements were made,” the statement read. “We consider the matter to be a non-issue.”
With much debate about tampering in the current climate of NFL free agency and with the Patriots-Jets spat, it’s nice to see common sense prevail as an owner’s words to fans about one of the greatest players in franchise history shouldn’t be viewed in the same light as illegal negotiating through back channels, which is what the rule is really in place to prevent.
