A team that knows a thing or two about the problems that video can cause reportedly decided that a video suddenly emerging before the draft was the deciding factor in choosing between a pair of tackles.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Ravens would have taken tackle Laremy Tunsil with the sixth overall pick, but for the video that surfaced of Tunsil smoking marijuana with a gas-mask-and-bong device.
The report isn’t that the Ravens may have or could have or might have picked Tunsil. The report is as clear as it can be. Without the video, the Ravens would have taken Tunsil. With the video, the Ravens took Ronnie Stanley instead.
Apart from the mild case of ESPN-on-ESPN crime that the report spawned, the disclosure could be entertaining for an entirely different reason. If/when the hacking of Tunsil’s account leads to criminal prosecution or civil litigation, Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome may be the key witness to show the harm suffered by Tunsil, since sliding from No. 6 to No. 13 cost Tunsil plenty of money.
How many moneys? Last year, the No. 6 pick (Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams) received a four-year, $18.6 million deal. The No. 13 selection (Saints tackle Andrus Peat) signed a four-year, $11.4 million contract. That’s a $7.2 million difference for four years. Given that Tunsil fell past No. 10, the gap will be even bigger under the fifth-year option.
An article from the team’s official website details the team’s real-time reaction to the Tunsil video, but doesn’t plainly state that Tunsil would have been the pick but for one of the strangest pre-draft developments that ever has occurred.