bioLarzen

I don't think we should spend too much energy on analyzing Brandon Williams' chances of staying a Raven. He's gone, guys. He's simply too good to be affordable. He'll probably be gone within 2-3 hours of free agency opening. That's how the NFL and the cap system works. The good news is that he's probably not going to a rival - about the only "rival" team that could afford him is the Browns.

I think it's a strong possibility that with today's breaking news of Orr retiring, Ozzie will go for an ILB with his first pick. If there's something we've learned about Ozzie's team philosophy, it's that first of all you need a good D - and it starts with a rock solid center core - two great ILB's. Now there's a vacancy, and no clear replacement. Going for an ILB with the top pick would be a trademark Ozzie move - and looking back, they'll probably nail it - Ozzie was always good at identifying LB talent, and then the coaching staff has always been great at talent development at LB (the exact opposite of WR where the scouting dept seems to do a lousy job identifying good talent, and then the coaching studd seems unable to develop the young guns). So, my guess is: an ILB with the first pick in April.

As for Reed to Baltimore... if it was meant to be, it would have already happened. I don't thnink either Harbaugh or Reed fancies working with the other.

"Horton was an assistant special teams coach, but he was an NFL safety for four seasons." Horton played in 3 seasons, from 2008 till 2010. During that span, he played in 29 games, starting 15. He had 3 INT's, 1 forced fumble and 1 sack. For comparison: our very own Tom Zbikowski was in the NFL for 6 seasons, playing 64 games. And we can all remember how low level he played... (sorry, Tom, but let's face it...) That, of course, says nothing about how good a coach Horton can be - but still.

Deep CB, C and RB pools for the draft probably means Ozzie isn't gonna pick any of these earlier than mid-round - 3-4th rounds maybe. Also, I see no way the top 2 WR's are still on the board at #16, and they seem to be the only WR's worthy of a first round pick... This means it's gonna be an OLB or ILB guy if Ozzie picks in round 1, IMHO...

We simply didn't need a good QB. One would have taken up an unnecessarily big portion of the cap. The roster was consciously made the way it was: a D that would dominate and an O just good enough not to lose the games the D was winning. McNair was just about the perfect level of QB it needed: one that doesn't habitually gives away the ball, can make big throws if need be, and can extend games and move the chains on occasion with his feet. That O didn't need a Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning...

Yep, a trade was exactly what I was thinking about, too. And as far as I know, he couldn't really refuse a trade.

Well, to be true, Belichick was a lot like Brady: back then it wasn't at all obvious that he would become what he eventually has. Back then Belichick was nothing more than a promising coach.

Well... if Bledsoe doesn't get injured, maybe Brady would have never become what he has become... No way of knowing.

Yeah - the draft is never a science: you can seldom go for sure. Every single franchise could make a loooooooong list of total blunders - players they took and regretted, and ones they didn't take and then regretted... The draft gurus are the GM's (and draft teams) that make the least of these.

According to "reports" the Eagles are considering cutting ties with C Jason Kelce... If it's true, I can definitely see a trade potential there. Kelce would be an obvious upgrade over Zuttah (sorry, Jeremy...), and a trade would keep Kelce off the FA market where he would probably be offered more than what we could afford...

You didn't see the fire there when we made the playoffs, either... Not in 2012 either... Does it mean he was a bad QB back then?

Why not at #1?

For the right price... why not?

If we would have beat Pittsburgh, we would have beat the Bengals. To lose a game the way we did in Pittsburgh then have to play a game that means nothing is a hard thing to do. Oh, come on. These are outrageously well paid professionals. Their job is to play the best they can - no matter what. Ray Lewis said that one of the most important traits of good athletes is to forget the past and future on any given gameday, and be able to only concentrate on that one game, regardless of what happened before or will happen afterwards. If someone is paid half as much money as these guys earn, the very least thing they should guarantee is that the give their all in any game. For professional athletes like them, even trying to hide behind such an excuse is borderline insulting IMHO.

I remember the time when the great, but aging owner of the Baltimore Ravens was replaced by a young one. Also the time when the good, but not-too-young-anymore HC of the Baltimore Ravens was replaced by an up-and-coming new young gun. It wasn't long ago when Ray Lewis, and his aging replacement was suceeded by a young budding star. And the latest case, when an "aging" Haloti Ngata was replaced by fresh staff. Young replacing the older is not an insult, not an outrage, not disrespect. It's the way it has always been - and a lot of times it's the best that can happen... as the above examples all clearly show.

Dunno... but I don't like at all how Ray Lewis has apparently turned into a critique-machine, saying negative things about players... Ray, your career was never about negativity - it was always about being positive. I think you should stay on the trodden path...

Would the Browns really be this bad at drafting QB'S? LOOOOL

As long as Aiken gets a decent offer elswhere - and I think he will, mpre than one - there's no way he'll come back to Baltimore. He obviously considers himself a starting WR (and there are teams where he could, indeed, be a decent starter IMHO), so, as long as he gets a chance to be treated as a starter, he's gone. And I can understand him.

There's a very good article on this very subject at Baltimore Beatdown: http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2017/1/13/14259956/baltimore-beatdown-staffs-take-could-ed-reed-return-to-baltimore-as-a-dbs-coach

So true

I guess I didn't realize how well known and respected Wagner is around the league for that to be the case. Williams I can see being our next FA to get paid to leave but Wagner has been good not great. It's true that anything can happen in FA when an underperforming team with a ton of cap space gets involved. It would be a shame to lose Wagner. I am hoping the only change on our oline is C and more depth He doesn't have to be especially "legendary" :) to be overpaid. McPhee wasn't... Ellerbe wasn't. Torrey wasn't... Art Jones certainly wasn't... and yet, they all got severely overpaid.

There are always teams with enough cap space to go well above the average for players they deem worthy enough. That, somehow, seems to happen a lot with UFA' leaving Baltimore... Ellerbe, Grubbs, Torrey Smith, Art Jones, McPhee... the list is long. Wagner may just be the next instalment.

And how would you manage this cap-space wise?

I don't think the Broncos offensdive production in 2015 and 2016 would warrant Dennison long, serious looks at OC... Not really a success story.