balfan23

Byrd signed with New Orleans 6 years 56M. How did they afford that?!?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000333219/article/jairus-byrd-saints-agree-on-sixyear-56m-contract

They released Will Smith, Jabari Greer, Roman Harper and Lance Moore. Everyone believed that was in an effort to deal with Graham. Graham openly criticized these moves (which I always find amusing when players who are set to make a huge contract get upset when fellow players get released .... cause and effect?). Then they do this, so yes, it was a surprise.

Those cuts put them at barely 3M under the cap.They are likely to part ways with Sproles and will need to make an additional set of cuts just to have enough to make minor deals and sign rookies. They have zero chance of retaining any of their other FAs ... including Puente. Who I am hoping becomes a Raven

Wilson: Ravens and Daryl Smith still have disconnect on asking price, according to sources.

Doesn't sound good, but we've learned from the Monroe affair that this doesn't mean Smith is all but lost. Graham is off to visit Redskins ... another Raven that looks like he may be a challenge to retain.

In this game, patience is absolutely a virtue. There is time to see how things will play out.

The structure of Monroe's contract is out. The team really backloaded it. 

The cap hit in the out years is high. The hit on 2014 is paltry ... 3.2M. That leaves our current cap space somewhere in the neighborhood of 15M. That is much more than I thought we'd have left after this signing. 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore-ravens/eugene-monroe/

even if we resign oher at rt we have to improve our o-line depth. too many ? marks with the guys we have.

Absolutely, this isn't time to totally declare victory, but it is a huge step. Had we not gotten this deal in place, there would be a giant question mark at perhaps the most critical O line position. 

I fully expect us to address the question mark at center via FA and address some of the depth issues in the draft. 

Adam Schefter‏@AdamSchefter Bills free-agent S Jairus Byrd is on his way to New Orleans to visit the Saints, per source.

Not sure how a team with such significant cap issues can be entertaining an FA who is going to be among the most expensive FAs available. 

Agreed... here's how I hope it plays out..

1. Sign veteran center for competition

2. Maybe consider a veteran receiver for competition

3. Target Clinton Dix or Pryor with 1st round pick (may have to move up slightly to do this)

4. Draft WR in second round and another in later round

5. Use a third round pick on a tackle-sized lineman and let him compete with Wagner for starting RT job.

The only monkey wrench I see is if we fail to sign Daryl Smith and add a MLB in FA, a guy like CJ Mosley may become too good to pass up in the first round.

I agree that center is #1 on the FA list, but what I'm not sure about is at what level we are going to take that search. To me there are 3 possibilities:

1. Bring in a young vet (like De La Puente) that is signed to a relatively long term deal (4 years)
2. Bring in an older vet, in his mid 30s (there are a couple options) and sign him to a short term (1 or 2) year deal.
3. Bring in another player, either from the cut list or a previous non-starter (like Ohrnberger) who would not be a clear cut starter over Gino, but would compete for the job.

The option we choose will depend on whether we think Gino is a reject, a project or a guy who just needed that one year under his belt and will be ready to go, if just pushed by another person competing for the job. 

I'm not sure how we'll approach it. Ozzie says he wants to get "bigger" in the middle, but I don't know that he really just means "better". The other center options are really not much bigger than Gino. To me the first 2 options aren't really going to be competition. The team may say it is ... but their expectation will be that the vet will win the job ... it is only a matter of how long we have him.

Birk's comments notwithstanding, I am tempted to see us go with option #1. 

Truly a relief after hearing the reports late last week that we'd likely lose him. The prospect of having to fill that hole, along with the other issues that need to be addressed was not good.

The 2 most critical FAs and the toughest to sign are locked up. On to try and find common ground with Smith and Graham.

That's why we still have Rolando McClain. If he returns and had his mind body and soul right.. him and Art Brown could be pretty decent in the middle of the D.

I do not see our organization pinning their hopes on McClain. That would be foolish. The "if" you state in this post needs to be in caps and 24pt bold font. 

I would love to see McClain turn it around, both for our sake as well as his own. But I don't see us banking on his being a fixture in the middle of our defense. 

monroe deal 5yrs 37.5 mil.. great deal!

I agree that's a great deal. When I saw what the other 3 LTs got, I thought Monroe would come in below Albert (5 yr/46M), but above Saffold (5yr/42.5M). As it is, he came in just above Veldheer (5yr/35M). 

I think we got a good deal and it also speaks to the fact that the Raiders overpaid. 

Eugene Monroe is very happy with how this worked out, according to a source ...

We're happy to have him. Long term LT ... Play like a Raven, Eugene!

IMO ... this was the key to how the rest of FA and draft approach will flow. Likelihood of us drafting a OT in the first round is slim. If we pick up Daniels, TE position is set. Feels like 1st round is almost certainly focused on WR or possibly even ILB or FS, depending what else transpires in FA.

Albert to Dolphins 5 year $46M

Saffold to Raiders 5 year $42.5M

Veldheer to Cardinals 5 year $35M deal

Monroe to Ravens ? year ?M .... likely 5 year and in the neighborhood of 45M ... will be interesting to see how we've structured it and what the 2014 hit is. 

IS monroe with us for sure?

Yes ... it is only a matter of the exact terms of the deal

We got like 20 million in cap space and couldn't afford 1.2 mm a year for Art Jones?

You're only off by about 5M per year. 

But ... I know where you are coming from. When we're paying Ngata what we're paying him, Art at 6M feels like a bargain. The problem is, that 20M in space is going to go fast ... and we have position priorities to deal with beyond DT. I wish we could have kept him. 

For those who wanted to see us go after McCluster - he's a Titan

Cards have Veldheer, Raiders have Saffold waiting for Miami to announce Albert .... Monroe to Ravens appears imminent.

Eugene Monroe contract with Ravens will be done soon, according to a source (wilson's twitter)

Art Jones is a member of that team in Indy. Really ... 6M per. Is that breaking the bank? I know it is hard to say where we'll be when we've filled our priorities ... but I'd love to have seen him remain a Raven and would have preferred he go to any of about 29 other teams than there.

I wouldn't expect much movement by the Ravens immediately. Typically they wait for the frenzy to settle before pouncing. I do expect Monroe to resign today though.

I expected Monroe before 4PM. I guess it is still possible, but it seems like we're either going to let it run up to the final minute or are going to let the other dominoes fall at 4PM and hope that the landscape either remains the same or breaks in our favor. 

Feels risky ... it would seem that if both sides were really intent on keeping the relationship together, they'd just make compromises and have a deal complete. 

OK - it is 2 PM. I'm ready for the announcement that we've come to terms with Monroe

can we get both Mack, and Monroe?

I would think if we went that route, there'd be little left for other moves that need to be made. The article termed it a "backup plan", although I'm not sure I understand how getting a center is a back up plan to losing your LT. 

We can probably expect to have Steve Smith and Owen Daniels playing for us this year. Why? Because both are RELEASED players. Ozzie & Co's favorite kind because it won't factor into draft pick compensation because released players don't figure into equation. Go Ravens!!! :-)

Daniels has officially been released, but at the moment, the Panthers are shopping for a trade partner for Smith. Now, if they don't find one, they may end up releasing him, but that's not official yet.

I think Daniels is a very likely target - given his history with Kubiak and since (I believe) he's considered a better run-blocking option than Pitta. 

Smith would be an intriguing possibility ... depends on the money he'd command. I think the FO wants us to get young at that position, but we've got a lot of either open or dead slots on the WR corps and I think a guy like Smith could fit in and we could still be looking at a high draft pick for the position to work in over time. 

So we are targeting Mack as a "backup plan"? Which means, if we land Monroe, we'll not be vying for Mack. If we end up in that situation ... how are we addressing the LT position?

Let's get Monroe, then we'll look at what our options are for handling the center position. I don't want Mack if it means we'll be bottom feeding for an LT.

It all sort of feels like all of the other NFL insiders are just regurgitating Wilson's article in the Sun from yesterday.

This is quite a game of musical chairs both sides seem to be engaged in. I would hope that both sides would make a final compromise and land a deal before the 4PM deadline tomorrow. 

Yeah I'd guess that if it came to that, we'd make a serious play for Veldheer or Collins.  Judging by how things are going, I'd expect Monroe back now, but it sounds like they have a plan B.  I don't know if they'll get to plan B though because Schefter made it sound like it's close.

I'm not able to find any reference where Schefter indicated anything about how close we are to closing a deal with Monroe. Nothing I could see on his twitter feed. 

Woodley is being cut ... another fixture in the Ravens - Steelers rivalry gone. He's certainly not a fit here ... will be interesting to see who lands him, what he gets and whether he has anything left in the tank.