North Notes: Ratliff, Schwartz, Bengals

In the wake of the Bearsrelease of defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff, details have trickled out about the circumstances surrounding the veteran’s departure, and they don’t paint Ratliff in a particularly positive light. According to Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune, coaches considered Ratliff one of the team’s best defensive lineman, if not the best, but team officials determined that he wasn’t in a condition to work when he arrived at Halas Hall on Wednesday. When the Bears sent Ratliff home from the facility, an argument took place.

Per the Tribune’s sources, Ratliff came back to Halas Hall twice and had an “intense vocal altercation” with GM Ryan Pace before he was sent home again. Lake Forest police were ultimately summoned as a safety measure, and Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets that the club still operated “at a heightened state of security” on Thursday, a day after the incident took place.

Even at age 34, Ratliff can still be effective on the field, but his latest off-field run-in will surely make any team think twice before signing him. Here’s more from out of the NFL’s North divisions:

  • When asked if he wants to re-sign with Cleveland, Browns right tackle Mitchell Schwartz said, “That’s kind of out of my control. We’ll see what happens,” as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal tweets. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) opined that Schwartz is in line for a major payday this offseason.
  • Cornerback Al Louis-Jean, who appeared in nine games for Chicago during his rookie season in 2014, is working out for the Browns today, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Louis-Jean was waived by the Bears in August.
  • Speaking of workouts, Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post passes along word on several players auditioning for the Bengals, tweeting that Cincinnati took a look at safeties Ahmad Dixon and Ryan Murphy, wide receivers Devin Gardner and Deontay Greenberry, linebackers Quayshawn Nealy and Ronald Powell, and center Reese Dismukes.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

View Comments (0)