The Deal

The Ravens have traded a seventh-round pick in 2020 for Packers running back Ty Montgomery, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Aaron Rodgers, Vengeful God

What a 48 hours for Ty Montgomery, who had a botched kick return on Sunday lead to his exile from Green Bay (trading someone for a future seventh-rounder is like sending them out onto the ice in The Dark Knight Rises). This story starts on Sunday evening when Aaron Rodgers almost had a chance to lead a comeback victory over the undefeated L.A. Rams with about two minutes to play, but Montgomery fumbled the kick return and lost the ball (and the game). The Ringer obtained an exclusive recording of Aaron Rodgers meeting with the Packers front office after the game about Montgomery’s future with the team:

OK, we can’t exactly confirm it went down like that (though Rodgers reportedly yelled “take a fucking knee” after the play). However, what seemed like a brain-fart fumble by Montgomery was exacerbated after the game when a Packers player told NFL.com’s Michael Silver that Montgomery was instructed to kneel but took the ball out of the end zone because he was upset with his playing time. Montgomery refused to speak to reporters after the game, but he gave a lengthy interview on Monday in which he explained that he made a split-second mistake because he was worried the ball was too close to the goal line and also said that he was upset with his teammates who spoke about him anonymously to the media.

“It’s very frustrating that the perception in the media now is no one has my back. I’m insubordinate. I’m a cancer, whatever is out there,” Montgomery told reporters.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s not true that’s causing me to have to deal with false accusations about my character, perceptions about my character. I’ve never been one to throw teammates under the bus. You guys know if you guys ever ask me questions about teammates, I always deflect it. I don’t like it. So it’s very disappointing, especially as a guy who’s jeopardized the length of his career, the amount of money he can make in his career, in the middle of a season being asked to do multiple things all the time. That’s all I’m going to say about that.”

Montgomery switched from wide receiver to running back last year but hadn’t seen the field much this season, playing behind Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams. He likely wasn’t in line for any time at all after angering the Green Bay God Aaron Rodgers.

Baltimore Gets a Useful Player for Free.99

The Ravens actually pulled off a mini steal with this trade. Like safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who also was reportedly traded from the Packers on Tuesday, Montgomery is in the final year of his contract. But Montgomery is a versatile piece who could be a better complement to Alex Collins than the Ravens’ current pass-catching back, Javorius Allen. The Ravens have a championship-caliber defense, and if they make the playoffs, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Montgomery have a prominent role in the offense. Ironically, a player thrown overboard from an NFC Super Bowl contender could have a legitimate impact on the AFC playoffs.