BOLDnPurPnBlacK

Matt Prater just signed with the Lions for 3 years $9 million.

We got Justin Forsett for the same contract. 

He drops a ton of passes though, a ton.  That, and with a guy like Bowe, you always have to wonder about his motivation.  Great talent, but there is a reason he's about to be released.

Oh i know. Main reason though is Maclin.

Wouldnt be my first choice, but 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th choices are all gone... And Id like at least a decent fall back plan. Reggie Wayne I wouldnt mind. And I do want to draft a WR, Just dont want to have to lean on a rookie, marlon, aiken or camp to put up big numbers.

Dwayne Bowe about to be released per Adam Schefter.

Just looked at his career stats and looks like he's probably good for 60-70 catches, 800 yards and 5 TDs. Id take that for the right amount of money.

I dunno..Daniels was a far better TE and a better playmaker. Scott Chandler? Never been anything really.

Look at the numbers. Almost identical to Daniels last year. 1 less TD, 1 less catch, 30 less yards. No QB.

I forgot Cromartie is out there. Would love him on a 2yr deal. Browner would be nice too.

Isn't gonna happen. Too expensive imo. Would like him on a 3 yr deal tho

Not necessarily so. We just cleared $8.5 mill, typically the deals are structured so the cap hit year 1 is low. We get Rice's $ off the books, Pitta either comes back or we'll clear his money too, and if Browner comes here we could probably cut Webb post June 1 and save good $ there too, or cut after the season to clear the space for Browner's increased cap hits going forward.

I'm not saying it's probable just that its possible.

 

ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk  ·  37 Min. Vor 37 Minuten

Brandon Browner is in New Orleans for a visit. Washington, Baltimore, Cleveland, Jacksonville also interested.

 

Would be nice, if we could land him.

 

Would love to get Browner.

I really hope we can land AJ, that would be a game changer. Then bring back Daniels and get a decent corner and sit tight until the draft. That's not too much to ask for right? Why do I get the feeling what we actually do in FA will be extremely underwhelming? 

Id love to bring in Andre. He fits the mold of an Ozzie signing... a vet just ending his prime, cut from his team and with something to prove. We could likely get him for around the $7 mill we were willing to offer Torrey, maybe even a bit less. Obviously less in terms of years.

Bring in Andre on a 2-3 year deal, and he and Steve Smith can help keep each other fresh and productive while mentoring and bringing along Marlon, Aiken and Camp. I'd like to see us also go WR in the 1st round and land either Strong or DGB. Strong reminds me of a more athletic Boldin with strong hands, ability to fight for contested catches and a polished route runner. DGB has red flags but may have the most upside of any WR in the draft based on pure talent. He's incredibly raw but has shown flashes of dominance based on pure athleticism and natural talent alone. In the right situation he could be the good side of Josh Gordon. The risk is, he could easily be the downside of Josh Gordon as well.

Andre would be a great fit since we're keeping Kubiaks offense and he knows it so well... plus Trestman brings a little more to the table in terms of passing philosophy so that could play really well in terms of being the best fit for Andre with a combination of scheme fit and opportunity to continue to be the #1 guy. Denver is a great fit with Kubiak but he'd be playing 3rd fiddle to Thomas and Sanders - something he didnt seem to want to do in Houston.

Indy is another fit, but again would be 2nd fiddle to Hilton and they seem to want to create a larger role for Moncrief. Dont know that andre wants that. Pats will always come up as a landing spot for receivers like him.... but again would be behind Gronk and Edelman in terms of pecking order.

Here he would come in and immediately be the go-to guy, have the best QB he's ever worked with, play in a system hes comfortable with and thrived in, plus play for a legitimate contender.

I'm really liking our chances to land him -- and not worried about the cap space. If Ozzie wants him he'll find a way to make it work. Ngata will be resolved one way or another tomorrow and that space will be more than enough to bring in Andre. If we can get Webb to restructure, we could potentially also resign Forsett or bring in Gresham or even Cameron. 

It's a perfect fit for both the Ravens and Andre for him to come here. I really like our chances.

I was a little surprised but I understand the logic.  The tender allows us to keep him at a very low price and still gives us the chance to match another teams offer.

 

I doubt a team would go after him with any sort of long term deal or something we can't match due to his history and the fact that his next suspension would be an entire season.  

 

If a team does come in I don't think Ozzie would hesitate to match the offer within reason.  He's more valuable to us than other teams out there.

I wouldnt be so sure. With the amount of teams that went in hard for McCourty there's definitely a market for Will Hill. There just arent many safeties his caliber in the league. He's very young and still developing. He was a top 15 safety last year in a new system and without an offseason to prepare.

The Eagles are desperate for a safety and have tons of money to burn. Chip's a big "culture" guy so maybe that will keep him away, but there are a lot of teams with a lot of money... and without even having to give up a pick for Hill theres really no reason not to offer him a contract if you think he has the potential to be a great player. 

And if that happens, some of those teams can make offers that we simply cannot match even if we wanted to. I'm getting a little nervous about losing Hill. The only thing that is keeping me optimistic is that Hill was campaigning to bring Rolle to Baltimore to play alongside him. I get the feeling that Will Hill wants to be here - and since he has the right to refuse another team's offer, there's a little hope that he'd give us every opportunity to make a fair offer to stay on board.

My feeling is that with Hill, our secondary is in pretty good shape. We could use a little depth, but the starting group has the potential to be very good with Hill, Jimmy and Webb and then a camp battle between Elam, Brooks, Levine, Trawick and one of either Miles or Darian Stewart (my guess would be Miles with his ST prowess and the fact that he played pretty well down the stretch).

Take Hill out of the equation and I dont feel like we have a legitimate starter at the safety position on the roster. I like Brooks and think he'll develop into a good starter, but I believe I heard that he may not even be ready for the start of the season. Hill might just be the most important guy to bring back into the fold - the fact that they gave him an original round tender with him being an undrafted guy scares me. Nothing to keep other teams away.

I think we go to FA to get a TE. I don't think we resign Daniels - as well as he played he's a year older and I don't think is a great option if needed to be depending on as your #1 TE for a full season.

I think Gillmore is going to have a breakout year but I don't see the team putting all their eggs in his basket. I see us getting Gresham, clay, housler or my preferred choice Cameron.

I think we'll go bargain wr (Reggie wayne) and draft one in the 1st round - possibly trading up if they really cover a certain guy. Outside the top 3, Strong and DGB are my favorites. Strong being the sure bet but less upside, DGB more of a risk but probably the best pure talent of any wr in the draft if he can really focus on football and work at his craft.

If we can snag DGB at 26 I'm all for it. I think he can be a dominant #1 right away. I think he can be josh Gordon on the field; the only concern is whether he's josh Gordon off the field. To me, it's worth the risk.

Cb i don't thin the FO sees as a priority with Webb and smith healthy, and with Melvin, Jackson, and maybe a gorrer coming back that's great depth. They may have struggled at times being forced to start but as 3-5 options I think we have some of the better depth at the position though injuries are obviously a concern. I think we'll invest a 2nd or 3rd at the position in the draft.

Safety I think we'll pick up a FA too. Maybe one of the Landrys, Delmas, Nate Allen and Antrel Rolle I think could all be upgrades to pair with Will Hill.

I'd like Trent Cole too if he comes cheap enough an then draft 2 edge rushers. Cole gives immediate production in rotation while young guys develop.

I think we can accomplish it all with limited cap though ngata will need to be extended or cut and Webb restructured. Yanda extension should be a priority too. That'd give us enough to resign Forsett and hit the FA acquisitions I mentioned.

If we can hit on all of them I think were better than last year without a single weakness barring injuries. Super Bowl here we comr

Id love for us to bring in Reggie Wayne. I know we need to get younger at the position but he's always been one of my favorite non-Raven players. He's a great leader and locker room presence and would be a good signing coupled with a high draft pick.

I'm sure some won't like the idea but I think he'll come cheap and has said he'll only sign with a contender.

Looks like a Patriots or Ravens type signing to me.

I'd like Trent Cole on a 2 yr deal if the price is right.

Get a known commodity to help the pass rush while we develop a draft pick to eventually take over without having to depend on him having to contribute immediately.

Please for the sake of all involved keep your posts focused on one idea and under a novel in length.

On Aldon Smith you haven't addressed resigning him. It's not even a matter of willingness, for arguments sake I'll grant you that the FO would be agreeable to trading and signing him long term.

The problem is we wouldn't be able to afford it.

To address another point, your comment that a draft pick could bust and Smith could lead the league in sacks... That's an if and you can't build an argument on that. What if the player you would have drafted goes on to be a perennial all-pro and Aldon gets in trouble this offseason and gets suspended for the year without ever playing a down?

It's flimsy at best; and the opposite is just as likely. The reality is they're not trading for him.

It would be cheaper as well as pay more immediate dividends to do that the other way around. Any good free agent corners are going to cost big time. The draft is deep with cornerbacks that would be playing well by playoff time. To get a WR via the draft that is going to make an immediate impact would require trading up into the top15 -18 picks at the least!! There's Cooper White and Parker as for explosive big body great ball skills and good route running WRs that you could count on to make an immediate impact. After that the other WRs have questions about their overall skill set or are raw and need at least a year to be coached up. Not saying no other WRs will be a difference maker/ legit starter his rookie year, but we are a team making a push for the Superbowl and if we really want a playmaker to actually expect to start for next year there are only so many of them in the draft. The rest would be more to the hope side. The offense is ready to roll and if OZ Decosta Harbaugh and Trestman add a WR they "Expect" ready to start they would have to trade up. There's no garuntee that when they pick at 26 that there will be a WR they could justify as even One of the best players available much less the best overall. I don't think they will go into the draft with the plan to draft the best WR that falls to them regardless of who it is. Unless they trade up or Funchess shows WR speed at the combine and or they like DGB they aren't likely to draft a WR in round oneone in my opinion. If DGB checks out or Funchess shows WR speed and skills they probably won't fall to 26 anyways. WRs and edge rushers get pushed up. They may draft a WR in Rd2 or later but they won't be counting on him yo start. If he can it would be a bonus.

If they draft an edge rusher in first2 Rounds not only would it have to be Mcphees replacement but it would have to be the eventual #1 edge rusher type with at least top end raw talent to be coached up. A teams best edge rusher is to the defense what the QB is to offense. A one player wrecking crew that can wreck QBs and WRs whole weekend all by himself can make a terrible defense good or below average defense very good or a good defense dominant. The rest of a defense can run off the jolt the electricity he sends. Edgevrushers get pushed up cuz of that and many never provide the shock n jolt the team is looking for. So when drafting our edge rusher its essential we don't draft A edge rusher but draft "THE" edge rusher they really trust can immediately fill Mcphees shoes and eventually be THE guy.

I like Danielle Hunter in Rd2 if he falls. Of all the talented edge rushers with raw talent to be coached up in my opinion he is one that could fall to mid-late Rd2.

In my opinion you are right on about what the ravens need to win the Superbowl. I absolutely love the Tillman idea!! His age and good tackling may be a great fit at safety. With his size and skills he could play Strong or free. However my favorite idea By leaps and bounds at edge rusher is trade for Aldon Smith. When Jim Harbaugh wasn't at odds with the front office and was in complete control of the team he had Aldon Straight and focused. And Aldon was one of the truly elite edge rushers in the NFL!! He seriously abused Nate Solder!! When he is focused and the team is playing disciplined he is as explosive and dominant an edge rusher as there is. He is in the same league as Justin Houston Von Miller and Rob Quinn. SF is reportedly open to the idea of trading him since he was Harbaughs guy and they don't trust giving him a big contractcontract without Harbaugh to coach and guide him. Just my opinion the ravens should ask SF what they want for him and make the deal. A #1 or a set of #2 picks would be a steal!! Harbaugh and the ravens coaching and leadership can keep him focused and straight like The other Harbaugh. Aldon Smith is simply a player THAT CANT BE REPLACED!! At least not by any OK or good edge rusher. HE is that edge rusher in the category of Houston and Miller that can wreck a QBs weekend celebration by himself. This is a good draft for edge rushers but in my opinion there is nobody like Aldon in this draft. The ravens can trade for him to rotate with Suggs and Dumervil as he gets back to the Aldon guided by a Harbaugh while the ravens work on a longterm contract the following year when he could take over for Suggs as longterm starter and dominant edge rusher and all around player cuz Aldon is also a good run stopper and good in coverage. There is no edge the ravens could get with any of their draft picks that's anywhere ear the level of Aldon Smith!! The raven defense with him would be fearsome again. He is an explosive speed rusher that also has size power and moves. He can explode to the QB so fast he can even wreck the short throw game cuz Aldon doesn't need long to get to the QB. Its an opportunity to get the most dominant edge rusher next to JJ Watt. When Aldon was playing for Harbaugh and focused he was better than Houston and Miller. This is an epic opportunity!! Who wouldn't like to have Justin Houston but the Chiefs would ask for far more than we could get Aldon for due to Aldons off field issues that Harbaugh and the ravens coaching, leadership and structure could smooth out. A dominant talent like Aldon can cover and compensate for holes in a defense, especially in the secondary. Aldon compares to a young Demarcus Ware and could even surpass Ware!! When Aldon Smith was focused under Harbaugh, only JJ Watt was a more dominant defender.

Ok so I'll play ball. Let's say they do trade for Aldon. Best case scenerio he kills it and plays to the potential he's shown. I agree he can be a monster.

Then what?

He earns a fat contract we can't afford to pay and we lose draft picks for a rental. Bad deal.

I guess if you're talking about the vast majority then yeah, you're right. No argument from me there. I was fine with giving Joe the money, FWIW. That's the going rate of QB and with inflation I doubt it'll be a crippling number compared to future contracts soon to come

I also was against the rice contract. Wanted to resign him but not for that money - I saw his struggles being in part due to the line but also saw his balance was off bc he packed on too much upper body weight for durability which also robbed some of his quickness and his vision was suffering.

General wear and tear also seemed to be taking it's toll as he was a featured back throughout high school, college and the majority of his nfl career.

It was just far too much guaranteed for a declining back of his age with that much mileage. But I too thought Pierce would build on his rookie year which he hasn't done.

That being said Rice would've had a great year under Kubiak, maybe not the rushing totals Forsett had but as a dual threat would have been amongst the league leaders.

More to the point id like to resign Forsett if he'll take a reasonable salary with heavy incentive based bonuses and escalators for 3-4 years.

If not I think taliaferro is ready to become a feature back.

Melvin should absolutely be resigned. For a 2nd year guy who was undrafted he far exceeded expectations.

He faced some top QBs and top WRs and played very well. At times he was our best DB on the field. Did he get exposed against the Pats? Maybe.

I wouldn't call it him being exposed as a player... Id say more accurately that his lack of experience in the nfl and in our defensive system was exposed. He got burned by arguably the greatest QB of all time, playing in his what 5th game?? In a divisional playoff game? C'mon, especially the guy saying he should be waived... That's a serious over reaction.

For a team looking to replenish depth in the secondary, letting go of a young, talented guy with a high ceiling on the cheap would be a mistake. Given an entire offseason to learn the play book and allowed to play an appropriate role - as a 3rd or 4th cb - he's a great asset. Judging him as a player based on his one poor performance is misguided considering his excellent performance in the previous games. A player in his situation SHOULD have struggled big time. He made way more positive plays than negative.

With Jimmy back, Webb hopefully more healthy, Asa healthy, hopefully a mid-tier vet, a draft pick along with maybe gorrer and Levine and I feel really good about us turning the position into a strength.

Let Levine, gorrer, Jackson, draft pick, FA signing and Melvin battle it out for reps. Melvin as your starter against Brady in the playoffs? Not pretty. But as your 3rd or 4th guy over a season? That's going to be a matchup win for us more times than not.

Still high on this kid. Bring him back and let him earn it.

I wouldn't declare him a bust. He could never cover wide outs, but excels in run defense. Like Pollard, I personally like Pollard better though. Why we use him in one on one matchups makes my head itch. Very frustrating player right now.

Because our defensive scheme requires safeties that can be interchangeable.

Elam is undersized, can't cover, and is really only effective as an in the box safety. He can be a playmaker with big hits and knocking the ball out but he's too boom or bust. Goes for the big hit too often instead of wrapping up and form tackling.

But I blame the FO mostly for this failure. This is what he was always going to be, and he can only be successful with a pure free safety that can cover the entire back end by himself. Elam needs an Ed Reed or earl Thomas like player to have success. And since we don't, and have made no attempt to even find a guy like that they've essentially wasted that pick.

We've picked up several safeties all of which are similar, tweener type guys. Not really pure fs or ss. Which if we can settle in with 2 that play well together we'll be fine back there, but Elam doesn't have the coverage ability to play this way.

Elam could probably have success somewhere like Seattle playing a role similar to Chancellor. Outside of that he just doesn't fit and won't even have a chance to succeed.

I'd be interested in drafting the duke FB and seeing what Trestman could do from an innovation standpoint having 2 athletic FB's that are great catching the ball and have the ability to run the ball if needed.

It'd look like a run heavy formation but you could run effective screens, motion the FB's onto the line as a TE or into the slot and still have an effective passing game.

With the right personnel it'd be an interesting and versatile alignment that could really make the most of what Trestman does.

This could mean big things for Juice, couldn't it? I feel like Juice could have been used even more than he was this year. Maybe Trestman unlocks that potential. Who knows?

He's gotta work on ball security - those 2 fumbles were both him exposing the ball and not securing it while trying to fight for extra yards. I think that contributed to his lack of opportunities.

But if he fixes that I totally agree that he could have a really big year in this offense. Trestman uses FB screens quite a bit and uses motion to exploit matchup problems.

Juice will be a nightmare to defend and could be a key piece in our offense this year. Can line up as a lead blocker in the run game, catch passes out of the backfield in the run game, and be motioned to the line as a te or into the slot. He'll provide tons of versatility to traditional running formations and help disguise what were doing pre-snap.

guess rice rather had cam Cameron then trestman lol.

 

and well 20 years ago no receiver wanted to go over the middle because defenses where allowed to hit.

today its tag football so wrs aren't scared anymore so we good lol

I didnt consider that, but great point. 

If Rice had played in the same offense he's describing there, but in today's NFL he probably would have loved it. With all the protection afforded to offensive players he would have had the catches, not taken the beating, and probably added a ton of YAC to that total and his opinion would have been "Man I love this offense. I got my same amount of touches and yards but didnt have to do all that hard work and run all those deep routes."

I liked his press conference but I did have a concern with it when he said that he "learns" the previous coordinators scheme if it has been successful and then fully takes it over the next year. Could this be why he has a drop off in production in year two? It's not huge, the dropoff but you can see it. I have faith in Harbaugh to make sure that Trestman is successful but it's something that stood out to me as I was listening to him. 

When he went into Cleveland, they went to playoffs year 1 and super bowl year 2.

I think the same happened in Oakland. I dont think this 2nd year drop off has any truth to it... it may have happened once or twice but he's also shown improvement year 2 at other stops.

On the conference call right now via the ravens app, Harbs has just confirmed Marty Mornhinweg is a done deal!

nice, part of Andy Reids staff that consistently made backup QB's look really good so they could trade for picks. I believe helped with McNabb, Jeff Garcia, AJ Feely, Mike Vicks one great year in Philly, Kevin Kolb and Nick Foles. Pretty sure he had a hand in all of them, and all except Foles showed their best when Marty was around.

Now im not sure how much of a role he played in it, but he was around. Andy Reid has obviously shown a knack for getting the most out of qb's but im hoping some of that rubbed off.

Who was it that suggested reading the comments of NFL.com?

 

 

Madness and stupidity.

 LOL that comment is HILARIOUS - that poster failed to mention that in 2008 we went to the AFCCG, then with Caldwell won the Super Bowl, and then with Kubiak had one of the most efficient offenses in the league, had the Patriots beat and should be in the Super Bowl again. 

Not to mention that all those "losers" aside from Cameron moved on from being our OC to get HC gigs and are having immense success. 

Some people are just plain stupid - and you cant fix that.

Just don't think the dink & dunk is something we execute very well and doesn't really play to Flacco's arm strength either.

 

One of the main complaints at the beginning of this past season was that the vertical game was gone. It came back but really don't like this starting from scratch stuff again at all.

I dont see this as starting from scratch. His offense is based on WC philosophy and studied under Bill Walsh. 

From a lot of what I've been reading, one of the most common compliments ive seen is how adaptable Trestman is. While he's got his core philosophy, he's been excellent at identifying the strengths of the personnel and creating a scheme that exploits match ups and what they do best.

On the screen game too, while im not a huge fan myself, hes versatile with his screens. Gets FB's involved quite a bit in the passing game which should benefit us since I think Juice is a weapon we've far underutilized to this point. He's gotta work on fumbles, but he can be a real weapon for us in Trestman's offense.

Plus he's a master at using motion and WR formations to force defenses into the coverage he wants, and then developing route concepts that pick, rub or simply scheme players open. We need that since none of our guys seem all that great at beating man coverage at the line. Camp should thrive in this offense and could have a serious breakout year.

Reliable hands are huge in this offense, so I can see Marlon and Aiken have increased roles and really excelling under Trestman. Pitta if healthy will take a step forward. 

And I think bc of Trestman we're even more likely to pick up a legit, big bodied WR by moving up in the 1st rd or through FA. Maybe Marshall gets cut and is tempted to come here to follow the success he had under Trestman in 2013. If not, we'll make something else happen.

And most importantly, Trestman will get the absolute best out of Flacco. He'll have another career year. Completion percentage will be by far the highest of his career, I think he'll have his highest yardage total, most TD's and around the same # of interceptions as he did this year.

--

And I know the big concern around here is what happens with the run game. Dont worry. The personnel is all staying the same and know Kubiaks run offense. They know the blocking scheme. Castillo knows it. The rb's coach knows it. The players know it. Castillo will continue to teach and implement that, and Trestman will simply call the plays we already know and run well - he'll just run them out of formations that work with his passing offense.

I think the run game takes a minor drop off, but only because the question mark as to who our number one back will be. I dont think its fair to expect even if we get Forsett back for him to do what he did last year. But it will have similar success, just the passing game will be more efficient.

No complaints here.

No it wasn't a response to any of my posts but you can double check me on that.

edit: I stand corrected. Dewy had one sentence about screens being about timing and proper coaching. (so I then have to assume we've had crap coaches because we've never been too good at them). Missed his response.

Dude I'm trolling you. I apologize just want some positivity round here. All we ever want around here is a legit passing game, Trestmans the guy to do it and everyone's bummed.