The Baltimore Ravens are reportedly being investigated by the NFL to determine if they violated the rules of the collective bargaining agreement during their rookie minicamp.
According to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, the Ravens are said to have dressed their rookies in full pads at one point, which is not allowed during this portion of offseason workouts. A Ravens official claims the first-year players were only in pads for five minutes on May 6 during a non-contact punt drill. The official says the team did not know rookie minicamp fell under the rules of the CBA and pulled players off the field once a union representative informed the coaching staff.
The latest CBA was passed in 2011, so these rules have been in place for a while. As Hensley notes, a player has to report a violation for the league to investigate the matter, so one of the Ravens’ rookies must have been familiar with the CBA.
Perhaps the Ravens should have taken some advice from the Miami Dolphins on how to run a rookie minicamp. We know Adam Gase’s team won’t be getting in trouble for wearing full pads.
