Ravens Avoid Questions About Odell Beckham Jr., Darius Slay
The Baltimore Ravens held their pre-draft press conference on Wednesday and opened the luncheon by restricting any questions about the Lamar Jackson situation.
Ravens GM Eric DeCosta began his press conference by saying, "I understand the need to ask those kinds of questions. I think just out of respect for the process - this is a draft luncheon - and we're going to try and keep just as much of this discussion as we can to the draft. ... and building the best football team we can build."
The tactic worked in more ways than one.
It appears it also restricted questions about any non-draft players as well. The Ravens brass were not asked anything about the report that they made a contract offer to free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Nor were they asked anything about the claim from Eagles cornerback Darius Slay that he nearly became a Raven.
The Ravens wouldn't have had to answer any Slay questions, however, as he's under contract with the Eagles and any comments could be considered tampering.
But there are questions to ask regarding the Beckham Jr. offer. Clearly, he didn't accept. But how much was offered and for how many years, and how much does he actually want?
Beckham stated before he had not been offered more than $4 million per year, and recent reports indicate he wants at least $15 million on a one-year deal.
Another hiccup for the Ravens is the quarterback position. Beckham could clearly want to know who will be passing him the ball before making any decisions on a team.
But whatever the intent of the tactic was on Wednesday for the Ravens, it worked. DeCosta and his crew were asked no questions that they didn't want to address.
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