Even though they were able to use two picks, the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft has been quite bittersweet for the Baltimore Ravens, who parted ways with Marquise Brown by trading him to the Arizona Cardinals.
A 25th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Brown had a fifth-year option on his rookie contract, which was eventually picked up by his new team. He comes from recording a career-high 1,008 yards in 2021, so his departure is definitely a blow for Lamar Jackson.
The Ravens quarterback expressed his frustration with the trade on social media, as “Hollywood” Brown will now be a target for Kyler Murray. But why did the Ravens trade him? Well, Brown himself explained why he requested the move.
This is why Marquise Brown requested a trade from Baltimore
“Yeah, I asked them for a trade after the season,” Brown told the I Am Athlete podcast on Friday. Among the reasons behind his decision, he suggested he wasn’t feeling happy in Baltimore, despite he loved playing with Lamar.
“It was just something, my happiness,” Brown said. “I talked to Lamar about it after my second year. And you know, then after my third year, leading up to the end of the season, he wasn’t playing. I let him know again, ya bro, I can’t do it. It’s not really on Lamar. I love Lamar. It was just, you know, it’s just the system wasn’t for me personally. I love all my teammates. I love the guys, but it was just something I had to think about for myself. The Ravens, we both handled it the right way. I didn’t go out and make anything public, I just kept it in house, kept working. It all worked out.”
The locker room wasn’t the problem. But Brown simply not felt comfortable with his role in the team, as he felt it was preventing him from unlocking the best version of himself. “It was just the situations I was put in a lot of times,” Brown added. “As a receiver, even in college, I didn’t catch as many balls, but the situations I was put in, I was put in situations that could help me thrive. And I just felt times throughout my career [in Baltimore], I wasn’t put in the best situations. It was just something that I was dealing with. But you know, I never complained. For Lamar, I would just keep working. Let’s get this Super Bowl, let’s get this Super Bowl.”
Brown went on to say that he is very optimistic about how far Jackson can take the Ravens, even claiming that they won’t need him as long as they have Lamar under center. That doesn’t make his departure any easier, but maybe one day they’ll realize this was for the best.