As it seems now, the Bengals never really made the trade official and even blamed inaccurate media sources for the confusion, even AFTER the league confirmed the trade.
"The club never announced anything on this," said Bengals public relations director Jack Brennan. "It was reported incorrectly from other sources. There are numerous trade discussions for every trade that actually takes place."
So, we're idiots, I suppose, even after this bit from Bengals.com -- the "official" Bengals website:
You won't find that on the page anymore that it was linked to because it was erased and replaced to report that the trade didn't really happen. I suppose, Jack, that the article never really existed, but they are written all the time.
All this was apparently over a $1 million roster bonus. Was the bonus an issue that the team didn't think they should pay while the league said they should? Why even attempt the trade if this "language" isn't, you know, looked at? Was it that the Bengals said no to the trade after it was confirmed because of this roster bonus so they never made it official? Sounds like the Bengals, doesn't it?
Wouldn't the roster bonus be void if he's not on the roster that his team played for? Why was no time given so the Bengals could work out a new deal and void the old one? Shouldn't that be an exception? I don't doubt that an exception of sorts would be given to Jerry Jones, Bob Kraft or Daniel Snyder.
But I'm also not convinced that the Bengals didn't set this colossal embarrassing failure of a simple trade on themselves. Keep in mind, the issue here isn't necessarily Shaun Rogers. It's incompetence of the front office.
And Jack. Try to downplay the entire thing all you want. All that you do is continue to guide us to the thought that the Bengals front office are completely lost.