Browns Reportedly Agreed To A.J. McCarron Deal With Bengals, Forget To Inform League Of Trade

The NFL Trade Deadline has come and passed and the Cleveland Browns watched it go by without making a single move. That’s right, the 0-8 Browns could not pull off a single move to better their team and will head into the last half of the season with all of their draft picks intact. However, it appeared as if the Browns were moments away from acquiring help, though maybe not at the position you would have first thought of.

The position is quarterback. The player? A.J. McCarron, the backup quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. McCarron has been rumored to be in trade discussions multiple times with Cleveland since Hue Jackson took office, as Jackson coached McCarron in Cincinnati before taking the Browns’ head coaching job a season ago. The first murmurs came at last year’s trade deadline, then the 2017 off-season, and now this latest discussion involving the former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback. It appeared this try was going to end in success for the Browns front office, who desperately needed to make a move. But as seems to be the status quo in Berea, the trade fell through. But not due to a disagreement on the terms.

No, the trade between the Browns and Bengals fell through because the Browns forgot to tell the NFL that the trade was agreed upon by both teams. Like every sport, both teams must report the successful trade to the league’s office. Cincinnati did their part and informed the NFL. The Browns however, forgot to tell the league before the 4pm deadline. As a result, the trade was declined and is now void due to missing the deadline.

Bengals and Browns actually agreed to AJ McCarron trade at 3:55 pm, per source involved. Bengals approved trade to NFL, Browns did not.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 31, 2017

Grossi says that apparently the Browns were celebrating their trade and forgot to call in the deal before the deadline…

— Aaron Goldhammer (@HammerNation19) October 31, 2017

That’s right, the Browns did attempt to make a move. However, they counted their chickens before they hatched and now have no chickens. McCarron stays a Bengal and the Browns remain the laughing stock of the league.