J.O.14

6 hours ago, riseNConquer81 said:

7 hours ago, reed20 said:

Tom Brady has 5 rings, dude.

So does Robert Kraft. 
what's your point?

His point is that Robert Kraft has those rings because of Tom Brady. That was an absurd comment. Look at Brady's career stats and wins. He is 39 years old and just threw for over 3,500 yards, 28 TDs, and 2 INTs....in 12 games. He is also second for the most 4th quarter comebacks of all time with 39. Did you not watch the superbowl?

You also said he relies on his playmaking after the catch. What QB doesn't? It's not like he had great WRs. Edelman, Hogan, Amendola? Gronk missed the entire post season and look what he still accomplished. When he does have a legit number 1 WR like Moss he just breaks records and goes 16-0...that's all.

His career record is also 183-52. His PLAYOFF record is 25-9. Overall, 208-61. 5-2 in SBs. I dislike Tom Brady, but you have to respect the guy.

That comment made me question your football intelligence.

1 hour ago, steelcityraven said:

Zach Brown and Claiborne.

Zach can take athletic TE's out of the game and has the speed, athleticism and versatility to be very productive along side of CJ. He is still young enough that he could give us several good years (A younger more athletic, more versatile Daryl Smith).

Claiborne has great cover skills and could really go a long way in helping to upgrade our CB position. Yes he is injury prone and but he is young and has a lot of good years left in him. High end talent at the CB position like Claiborne doesn't come along every day. He has a unique skill set that is worth taking a chance on. Plus we are still drafting a young CB so... Claiborne's presence (if nothing else) takes some pressure off of whoever we daft and allows then to develop at their own pace and not need to be thrown right into the fire. This move protects us in so many ways at minimum and has the chance to be a home run for a realistic investment.

Wouldn't mind seeing us bring in Mangold (I do believe that he is healthy and if he is inspired- NOT IN NY- he will be highly productive still). but if we do not bring him in... not feeling like this is a make or break

Clady or Sebatian Vollmer. I believe that Vollmer is still a FA... and would rather see us add him. Sebastian should come cheaper then Clady and is young enough and experienced enough that maybe we haven't seen him find his ceiling yet.

Finally... no sure about Barwin. At 30 years of age... not sure that he helps us like we were hoping. Then when I consider that he is 30 and his production is moving south... it concerns me more. I know he wasn't a good fit in a 4-3 scheme but what can we expect from a 30 year old guy who avgs over his career just over 7 sacks per season. All players see their production slip once over 30 and is he really worth that investment knowing that. On the other side of that coin... he does average 7 plus sacks per season and that is more then most people on our team. maybe a two year contract???? Not sure... wouldn't mind seeing us get younger there.... and maybe drafting a Takkirist McKinney, etc... there instead?

I don't think we will/can fill every need through FA, nor should we. I think we will sign a few more guys, but nothing to expensive. Apparently Claiborne is a strong possibility, which I think would be a good signing. I don't know if we will bring in another WR or not, the market isn't to good right now. OL is a possibility as well, but I figure it will be a relatively cheap signing. Instead of Zach Brown, I'd like to see us draft Rueben Foster. He is a freak at ILB and excels in every category, and he also delivers the boom. He would compliment CJ very well and bring a nastiness to our defense. If that would happen, our defense would be scary good on all levels.

37 minutes ago, reed20 said:

Why couldn't we just revert him back to corner?

Because we are trying to become a better football team...

Webby needs to come back to Baltimore on a reduced salary.

Why though? Where would he play? I doubt he wants to be a backup. Yeah sure, we could use him in some packages, but that would be a drastically reduced role because he shouldn't/won't be our nickel corner. He isn't a corner anymore, and nor should he be. We need upgrades and to get younger. We need a corner who can play on the outside and is a solid option so we can bump young inside. We could have a very good secondary if we can add another solid starter...

hope we can retain Williams...I'd also like to see us sign John Simon. Good against the run and a sneaky pass rusher. Would provide some depth and could be a starter...

16 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

To be honest, I've never understood this whole "hometown discount" idea. For what does it even mean? "You've done a great job for us, we'r really delighted with your performance - so, we're honouring and acknowledging it by offering you less than your market value and hope you'll take it."

And people get mad when the player says no thank you...

Right? I guess people don't really understand what they are saying. That's like any working individual doing a phenomenal job at their occupation and when it's time for a pay raise they decline that opportunity...all because they want to be "loyal" to their bosses. These guys have the opportunity to make a significant sum of money in a short amount of time...why not try to get every penny you can. I guarantee almost every fan on this website would do the same. Its not being selfish, its being smart. Money talks, loyalty only goes so far. I find it humorous when fans say, "well it's only a million dollars..." Yeah, only a million...

For me as a fan, it has become hard to determine just who or what I am cheering for. Is it the team or the bird on the side of the helmet? How am I to have allegiance for the players if they are always looking to see if the grass is greener on some other team. They deserve to get paid but the big money is ruining football for me. I enjoy watching the young players develop until their rookie contract is up, then they are gone from the team. And, getting a 3rd round comp pick for KO is just wrong. Teams that take a pro-bowl caliber players from another team should be forced to give up their first round pick to the team they stole from. Maybe that will stop the insanity. I have seen a lot of changes in football in my 60 years but for me, free agency is ruining what it means to be a "fan".

I agree, but when teams like the Raiders give up a bunch of money for a LG, that will eventually come back to haunt them when they need to pay a QB that will want top dollar and a OLB that will be the highest paid in the league. Its hard to feed so many mouths that want a lot of money when there is a cap space. I do agree though, it hurts losing players like McPhee, K.O., Art Jones, Torrey, etc.

I think we will be lucky to keep one of the three. Wagner will be gone, Juice is quite possibly gone, and the only one I think we have a chance with is Brandon Williams, who will probably get paid more elsewhere. Juice or Williams are the only ones I think we could possibly keep, and Williams has the better chance imo.

57 minutes ago, Purple Dawg 96 said:

Secondary was banged up I'm not gonna say awful but is why I was against that very very very bad pass to the endzone with so much time on the clock risking putting your banged up secondary back on the field to save the game! Smh Justin had a monster day and would have walked through them pats and Joe could have ran up the sidelines Hurst pancaked his man and there was no one over there! SB nation showed the footage from behind Joe something our website will not show "Things we missed" didn't air that week the safety played Joe and Joe fell for it costing costing us a Super Bowl and sent Torrey out of here unjustly!

Okay, lets talk about one play then. Also on that play, Torrey separated from the defender and from a QBs perspective was considered "open." Joe threw the ball a little to the inside but Torrey also didn't help Joe out by playing the football. We can sit here and argue that play all we want, but I'm not blaming Joe for that. That play didn't lose us the game. And yes, our secondary was awful. Melvin gave up like 200+ yards receiving.

  17 hours ago, J.O.14 said:

I have never questioned the effort of this team since 2012 regardless of our record. I feel the Ravens always come out and play hard, always. I think any fan can see that. We just haven't had the talent we needed...

JHarbaugh doesn't hold anyone accountable, its always the same, yes they play hard most of the time , but that's not enough,  the desire to be great and the ability for a staff to coach players up is what separates the good teams from the great teams (see NE) I can count at least three games where Harbaugh and Wigs either cost us the game, or made the game closer that it should have been. This staff has been stagnant , from player evaluations to on the field adjustments , John Harbaugh seems to be a fine Man, but lets hope he can become a great coach, and right this ship,  this may be his last opportunity as a Raven....

So are you questioning the effort or the coaching ability? There is a big difference in coaches costing us the game and not getting the players to play hard. I have never once questioned the effort. I'm not denying that I haven't questioned some of the decisions made my the coaching staff. Harbaugh is a great coach and does hold people accountable. He stood up to Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, how many would do that? I think your letting a few years cloud the career that Harbaugh has had. You aren't at practices and you're not around the team when they practice everyday. You see them on Sundays, and I can tell when a team doesn't play hard, but I have never questioned the Ravens effort. Never.

  15 hours ago, The Negotiator said:

Flacco is not a Franchise QB, no where near Elite. He is holding this team hostage with his contract. The Playmakers are lacking and thats whats holding the Ravens back.

The thing about it is don't blame Joe for his contract blame the front office. Joe could've accepted less that he was offered. Joe was probably flattered that they gave him more than he wanted.

When? In 2012? Because Flacco would have been paid the same amount by somebody else. We would have been left looking for a QB again. Have you people not seen the going rate for QBs now? If you look at Flaccos track record, especially in the post season, he deserves to get paid, and he would have. By us or by someone else. That's what you have to do if you want a franchise QB.

Joe has not looked like a championship QB in about 3 years. Sure the receivers could be better, the line could be better, play-calling etc...

However, Joe had those things before he got paid the $120M contract. The expectation was for him to become a guy to make others better. He has not. The Ravens can not afford his contract and a top 5 defense, and pro bowl talent around him at the same time.

If NE can draft QBs then the Ravens should take one if they are available in the middle rounds to develop.

Remember time we had two 14 point leads in NE in 2014? Yeah Flacco played pretty well that game. I honestly believe if we didn't have injuries that year we could have went to the super bowl. Our secondary was AWFUL.

Joe's 2012 Season had a lot to do with Ray Lewis coaching the team up, he would not let players get away with less than 100% effort, since then ,, well John Harbaugh and his cronies have sucked the life out of this team , I am Hoping G Romans can light a fire, god knows Marty Wig is plain AWFUL, cant wait for E Decosta to take over Football operations ,...

I have never questioned the effort of this team since 2012 regardless of our record. I feel the Ravens always come out and play hard, always. I think any fan can see that. We just haven't had the talent we needed...

Great, another article about Flacco that fans think bashing him will help change the fact that we are stuck with him for the next 3 years at least...

Flacco is a good QB. We are lucky to have a starter capable of winning big games like Flacco can. We could be in a much worse position. And in all honesty, Flacco does give us a chance to win every game. We very rarely ever get blown out, regardless of who we play.

Pairing Reuben Foster up with CJ Mosley would be deadly. Foster is an animal who is great against the run and pass and has great football instincts. He would bring a nasty mentality to our defense which I think we need.

  17 hours ago, J.O.14 said:

I would hit the brakes on the Mangold thing...Honestly wouldn't be an upgrade over Zuttah at this point. We don't want to pay for previous accolades and 'hope' he can regain his form. Past achievements won't help us win games in the future...

change of scenery , motivation, going to a stable organization. what u said is exactly what was said about other similar players we signed before like SSS, BOLDIN, mason, rolle, 

Not really though. Everyone knew Boldin and SSS could still play. Boldin was still in his prime. Derrick Mason was the same way. I don't believe anyone doubted their ability to play at a high level when they came to Baltimore. Could Mangold revive his career here? Yeah probably especially playing with Yanda. But realistically Zuttah hasn't been that bad, and over the past couple years Mangold hasn't been better. Yeah he played with injuries the past 2 seasons, but that doesn't bold well for a 33 year old body trying down in the trenches. Zuttah has dealt with injuries to, and played through them for us. I'm not trying to say I'm a Zuttah lover, because I'm all for upgrades. But like I said, I want upgrades. The draft would be the place to find a center right now...

I would hit the brakes on the Mangold thing...Honestly wouldn't be an upgrade over Zuttah at this point. We don't want to pay for previous accolades and 'hope' he can regain his form. Past achievements won't help us win games in the future...

Making 'sense' for the Ravens is becoming quite the oxymoron

Every position makes sense because we honestly have so many needs or could use upgrades.

As for Tony Jefferson.... I would be excited to have his athleticism and skill set back there beside Weddle. He is the real deal and we could probably land him for less then we are paying Webb!

Well even if we can't land him for less, I would be okay with the same amount. Instead of paying that type of money for a 32 year old safety, we would be paying a 27 year old in his prime with the ability to play out his contract at a high level.

I wish fans would realize that Flacco isn't going anywhere for awhile, and we would be dumb to let him go....

would be nice to see flacco take a minimal pay cut which would help resign some guys or bring in a free agent or 2 but he now has 4 kids so i doubt it is even a thought in his mind

I think the 40 million guaranteed from last year is enough to feed those kids....

Okay here's something nobody seems to discuss. Yes we are at that time when free agency begins and we could lose some players. However, what I don't get is that we are going to cut 3 productive players (or players that can be) in Doom, Wallace and Webby to keep 3 other players that were here the entire last season (8-8)?

So how is that extra space going to help us? It keeps Williams, Wagner and Juice (not even Guy who's the most important imo) and releases Wallace who was the only game changer on offense last year, Webb who did fairly well as a safety and Doom who was hurt but if healthy can easily have double digit sacks for us? Doesn't make sense and doesn't assure us that our season is going to be better than 8-8. If anything we'll only be worse don't you think?

We don't have to release Wallace. His name wasn't mentioned. If we release Wallace, that would create even more. I don't want to release Wallace, we need to keep some consistency with our offense.
Now Webb and Doom are different stories. If we release Webb, we could have the opportunity to sign someone who is just as productive and a lot younger. I wouldn't be to upset if we did release Webb, and I wouldn't mind if we kept him. He did play fairly well for his first year in transition. Dumervil is interesting. He's 33 years old, 8.5 million in cap space. Its a risk if we keep him at the current price tag and hope he can return to form. We have young pass rushers, and could sign another one that is younger and just as productive if not more. We could create a lot of space with releasing players who we could fill the void they will leave. Its going to be interesting to see what Oz and company do.

  1 hour ago, rmcjacket23 said:

As is the case every year, there will be positions and classes of positions that are merely "projected" as weak, and turn out to be quite strong, and vice versa.

When most people look at classes and label them as "strong" or "weak", in most cases, they're looking at the first round exclusively.

Given what I've seen this team do historically in prior drafts, I see no reason why they wouldn't come out of the draft with a quality Tackle or Guard, and can probably do so with a day 2 or 3 pick.

I hope you are right because I can see some other team overpaying Wagner and Alex Lewis moving to RT. That might leave us looking for 2 OLineman in the draft. Also FA but whoever is available may not be as good as what we are letting go if Zuttah and Wagner are gone. Why does it feel like we have major needs at every possition but QB, RB and TE? Ozzie has some work to do this year. 

Well, as Jacket said we do have a lot of areas that need improving. I think it's more on the defensive side of the ball than offense for sure. I thought Ducasse played admirably for most of the season and wouldn't hinder us to much. Offensively is mainly just playmakers at the WR position. We need another WR or 2, which is a need we have had for the past 21 years pretty much. RB and TE are good enough for us to be very successful.

Defensively, we need a CB, ILB, and could use an upgrade at FS though Webb wasn't that bad. If we lose Williams, that will hurt. But we can withstand that more than not upgrading our secondary or ILB. We also need some pass rushers. Ozzie does have his work cut out, but we can still field a contending team next season for sure.

I think it would be silly if Wagner didn't at least test the waters to find out what his value is out on the market. Hes going to get offers, bring that price back to Ozzie and see if he is willing to match or go higher. If we didn't give KO 10 million a year, there is absolutely no chance Wagner gets it from us. If we lose him, I'm sure we will have a plan in place.

I'd love to have Tony Jefferson, and if we could land him for relatively the same price we are paying Webb, its a no brainer really. He is younger and in his prime. Signing Victor Cruz would be pointless, we want to get better, not worse. Kamar Aiken is better than Cruz at this point in his career.

I'm not expecting or getting excited over anything with the Ravens. Its hard to tell what they are going to do and who is going to be resigned or not. I do hope we can resign B. Williams and Juszczyk. Id be upset if they sign elsewhere.

I love Brandon Williams. He was a gem when we drafted him. But as the article stated, if letting him go means we can sign a WR or/and a CB, then its a no brainer. We have guys that can help us weather the storm of his loss. Would we suffer a little bit? Yes. But we have guys that can help stuff the run. We NEED playmakers and another CB that isn't a liability. We could return to the playoffs and more with another weapon and a CB.