Ravenslifer

Actually it is not in the teams' best interest to re-negotiate for a long-term deal with Ngata; they're kind of doing it out of desperation. The fact is Ngata is 30, is going into his 9th year in the league, and has had an enormous amount of contact on a large frame over the past 8 years. He's also openly talked about retiring several times. He plays a position that doesn't last long in the NFL - it would be a very bad situation if the front office lowered his cap number in 2014 only to be hit with him retiring after 2015 but still being on the books for him for a further 2-3 years. I honestly think the reason he's being stubborn about this is that he doesn't plan to play into his mid to late 30s.

They do, but according to Rappaport they seem to be focused on rebuilding that defense - I'm just really of the mindset that the front office already had a plan in mind when they traded for him how much he was going to cost,and I think Monroe's deal gets done quickly. I really think he stays, but the longer he takes the more likely it is other players will get signed away.

Miami is definitely a concern since they're for sure going to miss out on the top three draftable tackles. A lot of the other teams though, like St. Louis, I'm not as worried about, because they'll have a shot at one of those 3.

I think Pitta is back, personally, but the larger point is this - Pitta was a 4th round draft pick, Jacoby was cut by his former team, Leach was at one point the highest paid fullback in the league, and his snaps on offense have diminished every year as we've been moving away from using a traditional fullback. We keep worrying a lot about what we will do without these players, but overall the front office has never really tried to spend multiple high round draft picks on receivers and tight ends and runningbacks at the same time. Since 2008, we've spent 2 second round picks, 2 third rounders, and a 2 4th rounders on two each of runningback, receiver, tight end. In that span, the Atlanta Falcons, who already had Roddy White, spent 1 third round pick and two first round picks on receivers. The Bengals spent 3 firsts, 2 seconds, and 4 thirds on receivers, tight ends, and runningbacks. I'm not advocating spending the next 6 first round draft picks on receivers or anything, but the bottom line is you look at any top offense in the league and you find that they either A) draft receivers, tight ends, and runningbacks with top picks fairly consistently, or B. sign big name free agents. We really do neither. Other teams lose top FAs all the time and move on - maybe the problem is that we draft so little, we put ourselves in a position where we literally have no plan B if these guys leave, and that includes Pitta.

That's a good point, but how much of that is a product of spending 1 second rounder and 2 third rounders on receivers and tight ends in the last 7 drafts? If the front office is serious about drafting a top target early, they may be more inclined to let Pitta test the market.

Monroe should be priority number 1 for 2 reasons: 1) he plays a position that's much harder to draft no matter what the year, and 2) I happen to think this year's class at tight end is very good. After that I'd go Pitta, which is what the front office seems to be thinking. If we lose Pitta, though, I don't see it being the end of the world like a lot of people do - we were all worried about losing Derrick Mason and Todd Heap in the same offseason, and then Pitta and Torrey stepped right in. The players are there in the draft this year, we just need to draft them. I'd love to have Pitta back, but every player has his price.

I don't think the Jags are going to look to trade him - they took him in the top ten just 2 years ago and they have a serious lack of offensive talent on that team - it's been MJD or bust for years now.

I think pretty much any of the guys that are projected in the first 2-3 rounds would be good fits here. If we go WR in the first I'm hoping Lee, in the second someone like Matthews, Beckham, Landry, Abbrederis, would all be good fits. I think the top of the WR class is very deep this year.

I expect Suggs to be here until he retires - just looking at the market last year, older pass rushers really had a hard time finding jobs. Suggs is one of the most complete OLBs in the game, but he's going to be a 32 year old pass rusher going into his 12th season and hasn't looked like quite the same guy for 16 games as he did before the injury. I think he knows that, and I think he knows that the best deal he's probably going to get is here in Baltimore.

True, but what's to stop someone from drafting a top prospect, letting him play on the right side, then switching him over to the left in a few seasons? Yeah Oher failed to do it, but a lot of left tackles in the league actually started on the opposite side and switched after a few seasons, because they were nabbed when someone was already in place. A lot of teams are following the BPA strategy these days. Just looking at it, Jake Long is once again injured, so I don't see why St. Louis wouldn't take the top LT. Atlanta could do what I said and take a guy to replace Holmes and be insurance for Sam Baker. Tampa Bay could use one, Pittsburgh could use one. Realistically I don't see how Matthews or Robinson falls out of the top 10, and I don't know if I'd take Lewan. So I don't see why the front office, who already traded 2 picks for Monroe who's only going to be 27 this year, would let him go, and I don't see why, if we have him, we'd draft a left tackle in the first round. And I also look at it this way - we won the Superbowl with a much worse left tackle than Monroe. The differences this year were 2 things: 1) lack of a run game, and 2) lack of a move-the-chains first down receiver. The run game was mainly because of the right side of the line e.g. Oher and Gino - Gino could use competition, but not first round competition. Oher should be replaced, but not by a first round pick. So we have the opportunity to solve the second problem in the first round with one of the top TE or receiver talents, and still get a very good center and right tackle later. I just think getting a dynamic playmaker on offense in the first round solves a lot more issues than drafting a future left tackle when we already have a left tackle we can resign on the roster.

7.5 million is actually right around or just outside the top 10 for left tackle money, and I'd say that's where Monroe is right now. He's certainly better than Bushrod or Long with all of Long's injuries. And the choice is between possibly overpaying the LT by a million dollars or two vs. possibly not having one. Just looking at the draft last year and team needs this year, I see absolutely no reason why any of the top 3 left tackles will make it past the first 10 picks. Atlanta, Buffalo, and St. Louis all need tackles. Even if one slides, Tennessee could take a guy because Roos is a free agent next year, the Giants need a tackle, and the Bears could use one also. The Ravens didn't trade 2 picks for Monroe because they wanted a one year rental - you can be sure they'd already discussed the possibility of landing one of this year's tackle class, and they probably realized that even if we hadn't traded for Monroe we'd still end up with too low of a draft pick to land an elite prospect.

That's my thought as well - there's no way the FO gives up two picks for a player unless they've already worked out a plan to resign him.

And Ed Reed is only an inch taller.

There's nobody like that in this year's draft for now - Reed and Woodson played safety when the run-game was still hugely important. These days teams are prioritizing positions like safety, CB, WR, TE. The Seahawks were very fortunate twice that they found Chancellor and Sherman in the 5th round of their respective drafts. And as much as Suggs' play has tailed off, you're right it's not likely we can just find a replacement in this draft this year.

Wasn't just Montana - Marino said something similar a few days ago.

Eli's like - "okay, I'm supposed to feel bad, don't grin, don't grin."

Bronco's bench - "Great, now just 4 more of those and we'll be in the lead."

Completely forgot Tebow. I don't recall a New England game, so I'm not sure - I do know they went one-and-done like three straight times after Elway retired. But still, they now have as part of their franchise history the single season passing yards and TD mark - you'd think they'd be just a bit more grateful for this season.

It's official - Peyton Manning will forever be known as "The Greatest Regular Season Quarterback of All Time".

Typical bandwagoners - haven't won a playoff game since Elway retired until this year, and now the guys that took them there are bums.

I think what he might have meant was, down so far, they'd obviously be trying for 2 each time, so 3 TDs w/2 point conversion brings it to 24, plus one more TD gives them 30. Not that it matters - at this point they should just be hoping for a field goal so they can avoid being shut out.

They would to take the lead - did he mean tie it or take the lead?

He was down pretty far one year to the Pats in the AFCCG and came back, but I don't think the Seahawks are going to give him the ball enough.

Probably wasn't until they told him the halftime score. Now I bet he's glued to it.

You know Brady got a laugh out of that.