Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti engaged in some playful after-dinner smack talk with general manager Eric DeCosta during the team's annual offseason meeting at Bisciotti's house in Jupiter, Florida.
While they enjoyed a nice bottle of red wine, Bisciotti boasted about how many of his favorite draft prospects became successes in the league, and DeCosta brought up how many of Bisciotti's top prospects flopped. In the stressful world of the NFL, Bisciotti believes it's important to laugh at one another.
After another glass or two, DeCosta mentioned the time in 1998 when former team president David Modell made the team's pick for Mr. Irrelevant, the title given to the last player taken in each draft.
Bisciotti then threw out the idea that he should get a chance to select a player.
DeCosta offered up one of the Ravens' seventh-round picks. But Bisciotti had his sights on one of Baltimore's four fifth-round selections, not knowing how much immense pressure would follow.
“Steve was begging for a draft pick, and he owns the team,” DeCosta said with a smile. “I said, ‘Yes, Steve. Of course you can have a draft pick.'”
The involvement of NFL owners in the draft and personnel decisions covers a wide spectrum, from the Dallas Cowboys ’ Jerry Jones, whose role as GM ensures a hands-on role, to the Chicago Bears ‘ George McCaskey, who spent Day 3 of the 2024 draft umpiring a high school baseball game.
The results of an owner's influence have varied just as widely, from disastrous moves in New York and Cleveland to controversy in Miami to a successful blockbuster trade in Indianapolis.
DeCosta agreed to give Bisciotti the team's last fifth-round pick.
Bisciotti enlisted the help of DeCosta's 15-year-old son, Jackson, who bonded with the owner during last year's draft.
They kept their research secret because they were nervous that DeCosta would take their player with an earlier pick.
In doing his homework, Bisciotti called one of his close friends, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who vouched for running back Adam Randall and solidified him as Bisciotti's choice when he called Randall the highest-character player he'd ever coached. When the Ravens were on the clock with the 174th pick, Bisciotti started having doubts.
There were a few players ranked higher than Randall on DeCosta's draft board.
Bisciotti briefly thought about asking to switch his pick to one in the sixth round instead of the fifth.
But he feared Ryan Eckley , the Ravens' top-rated punter who was earmarked for the sixth round, might not be there in the seventh.
For the first time, owner Steve Bisciotti personally selected @8adamrandall .. with an assist from Dabo @ClemsonFB pic.twitter.com/qXwdrqDTIy
DeCosta told Bisciotti, “You did the work. Pick your guy.” So, Bisciotti called Randall to inform him that he was being drafted by Baltimore.
DeCosta asked Bisciotti, “It's hard, isn't it?”
Bisciotti responded, “S--- yes, it's hard.”
Asked about the greatest lesson he learned, Bisciotti replied, “How scared I was to literally make the pick. I put it in and I got off the phone with him and my face was white.”
TWO YEARS AGO , Chicago was making calls to trade back into the fifth round of the draft while McCaskey was calling balls and strikes.
McCaskey, the 70-year-old chairman of the Bears, opted to umpire on the final day of the 2024 draft instead of spending the four rounds in the draft room of Halas Hall.
Chauncey Carrick, the athletic director at Sycamore High School, was the one updating McCaskey on the players the Bears were selecting.
“I go, ’Hey, you guys are drafting in four picks,'” Carrick said. “Want me to stick around and let you know who you get?'”
McCaskey appreciated the help. About an hour later, Carrick returned with an update, which surprised McCaskey, since the Bears entered the draft with only four picks, including two in the first round.
“He goes, ‘Not us, we're out of picks,'” Carrick said. “I was like, ’Well, you just traded back in.' He immediately wanted to know who they got.”