Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh is not happy with the way the Broncos backed out of a trade for Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley, or with the NFL rules that allowed them to do so.
After agreeing to trade a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick for Henley, the Broncos told Chargers GM Joe Hortiz they couldn’t go through with it because Henley’s physical revealed concerns about his knee. The Broncos were still willing to trade for Henley, but wanted to give up less. Harbaugh believes physical exams should only be to determine whether or not the player is healthy, not to renegotiate trade terms.
“What happened with the trade? Here’s what I know, from talking to Joe: The Broncos based a pass-fail on a medical grade based on whether we would take less compensation, and we wouldn’t and we didn’t,” Harbaugh said. “In my opinion it’s one of those loopholes that the league should really look into, because it sets a bad precedent.”
Asked if it’s permitted for teams to renegotiate trades after the trade deadline, Harbaugh answered, “It shouldn’t be, but apparently it is. That’s why it’s a loophole, and teams should not have the ability to do that.”
Harbaugh said the Broncos offered to say Henley passed his physical, but only if the Chargers would take something less than the fifth-round pick the Broncos had agreed to.
“It’s a medical grade. It’s a pass-fail for a medical grade, and they told us they weren’t going to pass him if it’s a fourth and a fifth, which was agreed upon — they would not pass him for that. They would pass him for a fourth and a fill in the blank. I don’t know what to call that, but that’s what it is,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh is right that the NFL has set a bad precedent. By allowing teams to renegotiate trade terms after the deadline, the NFL is incentivizing teams to engage in chicanery on physical exams to squeeze their trade partners into taking less favorable deals. The Chargers refused to budge, but the NFL rules shouldn’t have put the Chargers in a position where they had to make that decision.