If you watched the NFL Draft last night, you may remember an odd moment when the Ravens failed to call in their first round pick at spot No. 26. If you're wondering if the Bears maligned front office ended up outdoing themselves and actually hurting a competent front office, the answer is "yes."

Chicago, picking 29th, and Baltimore, at 26, finalized a trade that would have had them switch slots, with the Ravens getting the Bears' fourth-round pick in return. Chicago would take Wisconsin tackle Gabe Carimi, and the Ravens, if Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith was still on the board, would take Smith at 29. With two minutes left in the Ravens' period, the deal was done. Under NFL rules, each team has to report the trade to NFL draft headquarters at Radio City Music Hall. The Ravens called it in. They assumed Chicago called it in, but due to a miscommunication in the Bears draft room, no one from Chicago ever called the league. As the clock ticked down to zero, and Chicago was on the phone with Carimi to tell him he was going to be their pick, Baltimore noticed no one at the league had announced the trade and Chicago's pick of Carimi. Meanwhile, Kansas City, with the 27th pick, rushed its card to the desk at Radio City, taking Pittsburgh wideout Jonathan Baldwin.

What a total, complete screwjob. Forgetting to call in the pick might not even be as bad as calling Carimi at No. 26 and being all like "you're our guy!"...when you don't actually have a pick in that spot.

But is all well that ends well?

Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome, on an open line to New York, demanded to know why the trade hadn't gone through. Chicago never called to confirm it, Newsome was told. Baltimore was infuriated. The league didn't allow the trade. The Ravens picked Smith at 27 (not 26; Kansas City was awarded the 26th pick and picked Baldwin, because the Chiefs got the pick in before the Ravens did), and the Bears got lucky, getting Carimi at 29.

So, to recap: the Bears and Ravens make a trade, the Ravens call it in, the Bears don't, but both teams end up getting the exact guys they wanted in the first place. In the Ravens' case, they got him a couple picks earlier than they should have (which will probably hurt them financially), and they lost out on a fourth round pick. In the Bears' case, they got extremely lucky, should have fallen flat on their faces, but somehow came out unscathed. In all honesty -- factoring in money, significance, and stakes -- this error on the part of the Bears front office might border on unacceptable. How do you make a mistake like this? Do you just simply forget? Again, "yes."

"Whatever you hear, Baltimore did everything the right way," Angelo told Chicago media. "There were a lot of things happening in the draft room. We were getting a lot of calls, we just ... dropped the ball. I dropped the ball. I can't say anything more than that."

Cue some token Baltimore Ravens-style bitching anyway!

All's well that ends well, you say? Not so fast. Angelo called Baltimore owner Steve Bisciotti to apologize, but Bisciotti wanted the fourth-round pick anyway, claiming it was part of the deal they'd agreed to. In fact, I'm told Bisciotti today will push to get the fourth-round pick, or to make the situation right in some way.

Cue some token NFL-style indifference.

The league is under no obligation to do so, because the trade was never official. And maybe all's fair in love and draft-night trades, but as far as Baltimore's concerned, I don't think this one's over. I think the Ravens will ask the league to award them some compensation from Chicago before the draft resumes at 6 p.m. Eastern today. Stay tuned.

I'm really trying to see this whole gaff from the Ravens' perspective, but honestly, if it happened the other way around, I'd probably still blame the Bears for the situation. How could you let the Ravens forget, you idiots!

Ah well. All's well that ends well! Hopefully the Bears don't lose that fourther. We could probably use it to draft a really, really solid Division II player.

Are you ready to see what the Bears do next, former Raven Bart Scott?

Meanwhile, we've called Bears fans passionate, too passionate, over-willing to "boo," obsessed with 1985, and, of course, impatient -- but they're also apparently diligent researchers (@darrenrovell).

#1 most trending player on Google Trends this morning? Gabe Carimi. Surrounded by Royal Wedding searches.

Kinda made me happy to see that, actually.

The second round of the NFL Draft begins at 5 p.m. CST (the green one) Friday.

Bobby Loesch is the assistant editor of Tremendous Upside Potential. He can be reached at bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobbystompy.

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