Bengals located email from Browns about AJ McCarron trade, but NFL still never heard from Browns
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Bengals did locate the email from the Browns about the AJ McCarron trade that was sent just before the trade deadline Tuesday, but they were in the process of filing their paperwork to the NFL and did not see it until later, a Bengals spokesperson told cleveland.com.
Furthermore, the Browns needed to send their own signed documentation to the league to execute the trade for McCarron. So even if they Bengals had seen the Browns email before the 4 p.m. deadline, Cleveland would have needed to notify the league directly that it approved the trade.
On Tuesday, the Bengals spokesperson told cleveland.com that they never received the email from the Browns in the minutes before the trade deadline.
Ultimately, they located it by Wednesday, the spokesperson said. But it came in at about 3:54 p.m., and it did not come directly from Browns Executive Vice President of Football Operations Sashi Brown, who was working on the trade. Therefore it was not immediately seen.
It came from an assistant of Brown's, director of football administration Chris Cooper, a name the Bengals did not immediately recognize. The email was sent to Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin, who had been dealing with Brown on the trade.
One high level NFL personnel man also said "it would be crazy for the Browns to expect the Bengals to send the Browns paperwork to the NFL. They know they have to notify the league themselves.''
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2017/11/bengals_did_receive_email_from.html