Michael Brockers planned to be a Baltimore Raven early in free agency. After a physical, however, the deal was scuttled, and the veteran defensive lineman quickly ended up back in Los Angeles.
Joining former teammate Chris Long on the *Green Light* podcast, Brockers detailed the quick turn of events.
"For me personally, I was just ready for whatever journey was coming my way," Brockers told Long, via Rams Wire. "I definitely wanted to be at home, but if I had the chance to make some more money and possibly get back to a Super Bowl, at the same time, I was going to run with that. At that time, Baltimore seemed to be the best option."
Brockers said he'd looked forward to teaming up with new Ravens lineman Calais Campbell in Baltimore.
"Knowing Baltimore from last year and just seeing everything they had and then they added Calais Campbell and I was like, 'Oh my god, there's no way. This is going to be crazy.' At that point, it was a done deal. But going through physicals, you know how that works. Being a little bit older in the league, they see a couple things."
Living in Houston, Brockers went to a local doctor instead of the Ravens' team medical personnel due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. That's where his story took a turn.
The Ravens weren't comfortable with Brockers' high-ankle sprain from late in the 2019 season. A three-year, $30 million contract with $21 million guaranteed was dashed.
"I did my physical here in Houston. I go to the doctor, they take X-rays and I did an MRI," he said. "The doctor sent it to Baltimore and Baltimore's doctor gets to look at it and he says, 'You know, I'm not a specialist, but I'm going to send it to a guy that I truly trust and he's a third-party doctor. He'll just tell me what's up.' I guess that doctor told him I might need something like a surgery and they were like, 'Oh.'
"They get my MRI, they get all this stuff. Then we don't hear from them after that. And I guess that's the process where they were sending MRIs to (the doctor) or whoever and getting his word for it."
Shortly after Baltimore announced the deal was nixed, Brockers re-signed with L.A. to continue to play alongside Aaron Donald.
The 29-year-old added that his ankle feels fine.
"I feel great. I've been working out the whole time. It worked out the way it was supposed to," he said.
