DaytonDailyNews.com

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals' proposed trade for Detroit defensive tackle Shaun Rogers fell apart late Friday night, Feb. 29, because of salary cap issues.

The NFL office in New York, which must approve all trades, didn't like the way the Lions and Bengals had arranged the deal. So it was nixed, opening the door for the Lions to trade Rogers to Cleveland for cornerback Leigh Bodden and the Browns' third-round draft pick.

Rogers was owed a $1 million roster bonus at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 1. That's why the Lions were aggressively trying to trade him.

It's believed a league interpretation over roster bonus allocations led the NFL to invalidate the trade.

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was asked for some insight on how the trade fizzled.

Lewis said it had to do with "how Detroit had to count cap figures, and the timing (of it). It's more in legality terms of league (rules) and how Detroit tried to execute it, and when they did it, it was too late, and so they (the league) just disallowed it."

Bengals Vice President Troy Blackburn gave the club's public relations director, Jack Brennan, permission to comment on the proposed trade, which was reported as consummated by numerous media agencies, including The Associated Press, ESPN and the team's Web site, bengals.com.

"You're aware that even though this (trade) was incorrectly reported from other sources in the media," Brennan said, "we never made an announcement on it. Obviously, for every trade that occurs, there are numerous discussions between teams that don't lead to an actual trade."

Greg Aiello, the NFL's senior vice president of public relations, said he didn't know the specifics of how the Lions-Bengals deal failed.

"When teams are making trades," he said, "they'll talk to our office and if there are complications, they'll ask, 'Can we do this? Can we do that? Is this OK? Is that OK?' They are given the answer and either a trade happens or it doesn't happen. We don't announce trades. The clubs do."

The Lions claimed they had a deal with Cincinnati for third- and fifth-round draft picks. They confirmed it. The Bengals didn't, though their Web site reported it. Detroit clearly jumped the gun.

"Trades have to be approved by the league office," Aiello said. "The information is submitted to the league office and signed off on. If there's something improper or something doesn't work about it, then the teams are notified. They either work it out or they just say, 'We'll go our separate ways.'''

Bottom line: Rogers, nicknamed "Big Baby," is a Brown and not a Bengal.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com

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