rmcjacket23

A lot of what people are missing is if we do go ahead and pursue Claiborne that allows us to use our 1st round pick on a pass rusher or even inside linebacker. Reuben Foster will be sitting there to take over Orr or a pass rusher that could take over Doom. If we don't pursue Claiborne the obvious first round pick should be corner, as you stated tavon is impressive but is better suited for the nickel and Jimmy is a great number 1 but he always gets hurt. In my opinion this would be a good signing. The guy was a first round pick that has been in the league for 5 years. He's never played 16 games and only got close to doing so once. I don't see how we could even be considering him. Not only paying on him, but relying on him too. He makes Jimmy look like an Ironman. This corner class is insane. Time to take a legit lock down #1. To not only pair with Jimmy and Tavon, but he can take over if Jimmy does go down. As well as take over for us in the future when Jimmy is not around. Might be able to get away with pass rusher in the first and corner in the second, but that could be a huge mistake. There will be legit lock down corners ava. at 16 no matter what this year I believe this exact same thing was said the year that Morris Claiborne was drafted in the 1st round... We're not reaching for anybody just because we need that position. Never understood why fans think this would be the year that we would do something different, as if our needs this season were any bigger than they were in the past. We were in a worse Corner spot this time last offseason than we are now, and we didn't draft one until the 4th round last year. That should tell you something. We will end up with a Corner or two in the draft, but its not going to be in a set round range or anything resembling that.

A lot of what people are missing is if we do go ahead and pursue Claiborne that allows us to use our 1st round pick on a pass rusher or even inside linebacker. Reuben Foster will be sitting there to take over Orr or a pass rusher that could take over Doom. If we don't pursue Claiborne the obvious first round pick should be corner, as you stated tavon is impressive but is better suited for the nickel and Jimmy is a great number 1 but he always gets hurt. In my opinion this would be a good signing. No, it doesn't change anything. Again, signing a guy like Claiborne doesn't shift your priorities in any way. We're going to take the highest rated player on our board in the 1st round. It doesn't matter what position it is. Could be pass rusher, MLB, Corner, Safety, Offensive Line, TE, WR or even RB based on what I see. Signing Claiborne doesn't change that, because we aren't going to just start saying "we must have a corner, so we must take one here". That's how you end up drafting that doesn't turn into a good football player.

That's what you do when you're starting RB gets suspended... So, yes, brilliant.

he wont play for them - hell probably be cut pretty soon - they literally just paid to get a 2nd round pick which is kind of clever... But at what price? the $16 million owed to Osweiler? Would they still be on the hook for his salary? If so, they merely inherited Houston's Horses rearery. Word is they may just cut him. But they basically swapped cash for draft picks, which is a smart move for a team rebuilding. Does it even matter if Osweiler is their QB or not?

Well he's played against Rodgers and Brees, so don't see how that's an issue. Really no evidence long term showing that players changing conferences aren't successful. Not sure where you came up with that from.

Signing Claiborne obviously wouldn't stop us from drafting a corner. The two have nothing to do with each other. Even if all we do is draft a corner, that basically gives you Jimmy, Young (who is better in the slot) and a rookie. Not exactly the depth we are looking for, especially when you're #1 corner misses time often. When it comes to Corner, you're probably looking at a cheap veteran signing AND a decent draft pick, not OR a decent draft pick. They do have something do with each other. It means we have don't sign a FA Cb whose price is high due to demand. And we can draft two CBs. One oft injured cb to alleviate another oft injured cb is not a plan. And those FA cbs have worked out recently. 1. We have no clue what Claiborne's price is. So far, there's been very little discussion of him at all in FA, which means he's highly unlikely to be part of the first wave of higher paid players. You're just guessing that his price would be high. 2. We could still draft two corners if we signed him... again, that stops nothing from happening in the draft. You're also probably highly unlikely to sign a corner who doesn't get injured or draft a corner who won't get injured, because, frankly, corners get injured a lot. You can go back and look at the history of our franchise and you'll see a lot of corners that have been injured multiple times. You're right, those FA CBs haven't worked out recently. And neither have the draft picks. Its the hardest position in the league in my opinion to evaluate and get your money's worth out of, save for maybe QB. You're gambling in either scenario. All else equal the draft is the way to go which is supposed to be our philosophy anyway. Paying for a corner who was on one of the worst cover teams last year who is also not as durable is not remedying the issue. You're right I don't know the price but I know the market. Just look at what Wright got last year. This is the market unfortunately which shows in all these inflated contracts lately. When we have to eat the dead money for all those failed deals which were not that hard to see at the time that they were not worth it. And people wonder where our cap space went? We need to build via the draft to combat the excess cap space of other teams. The draft picks on CBs have actually panned out well: Tavon Young a 4th round corner played better than Arrintgton, Wright and any other FA cb they brought in the last 5 years. Webb played good corner for his first contract tenure. And Smith was well worth the 1st rounder. Pass rusher, safety for some odd reason and WR are the positions that seem to always allude us in the draft but I would still keep trying to build via the draft we all know we can't hit on every draft pick but not to try is absurd. You're still missing the point entirely. 1. Nobody is saying that signing a FA corner takes away from drafting 1 or 5 of them. Still have no idea why you keep coming back to this. 2. You shouldn't be looking at what Wright got last year, because that's when he was coming off a good season. He was actually pretty good, or at least, above average, in 2015. That's why we paid him like that last season. He was signed for peanuts during the 2015 season after he was cut by the 49ers. That's what the market is for average corners. Its not nearly as robust as you think it is. 3. Sure, Webb, Jimmy and Young are good picks. That's 3 respectable corners in, what, 8 years? There's also Chykie Brown, Asa Jackson, Marc Anthony, and Tray Walker (unlucky on this one). So for every 1 corner we drafted that panned out, another one didn't. You could argue that's due to where they were drafted, but no team can commit a day 1 or 2 pick on a corner every year and be successful. Heck, the guy you are arguing against us signing was a very high draft pick who was viewed as a "can't miss" prospect by many. There's busts just littered among day 1 picks in recent years at the corner position. Again, goes back to my point... tons of risk. If you think drafting corners is the way to go, I agree, and signing one won't change that. It MAY mean that you draft somebody else instead of a 6th round corner who's extremely unlikely to pan out, because lets face, we aren't using two top 3 round picks on a corner. Maybe one of those goes to a corner, but we aren't going to pull a Steelers and draft like 4 corners in the first 3 rounds like they've done recently. That hasn't panned out well for them thus far either. 4. Nobody is even remotely suggesting that we aren't trying to build through the draft. What you're neglecting is that our drafts haven't been very good lately (main reason why we are in this mess) and that a team that has like 10 positions they want to upgrade can't possibly do it in a draft, or two drafts, or maybe even three drafts. Half of your draft class is going to be irrelevant when its all said and done... that's just how the NFL works.

Well, we now know why. Because Dixon got suspended...

Well, I guess we have our answer as to why Woodhead is here. Dixon got suspended.

He's a small guy but can sure block. He's 30+Y/O coming off a knee injury. So are AP and Charles how are they worth no value in comparison to Woodhead? if the FO really liked him then let go of west and use that 2 mil somewhere else And use the $2M where else? A reserve offensive lineman? What position are you getting a starting caliber players for that kind of money? Its not even $2M in cap savings... its like barely over $1M after the Rule of 51 adjustments once the draft is over.

He's a small guy but can sure block. He's 30+Y/O coming off a knee injury. So are AP and Charles how are they worth no value in comparison to Woodhead? if the FO really liked him then let go of west and use that 2 mil somewhere else Well, what does AP bring to the table at this point beyond the name and the face? He's strictly a two down runner who didn't look very good recently, is coming off multiple significant injuries, and I would almost guaranteed would not sign with us for $2M. Charles has even more injury concerns, has played 8 games in two years, and isn't a very good between the tackle runner at this stage in his career. He would be a third down passing back most likely, and probably more expensive than Woodhead. I think fans are getting caught up with the "name value" there instead of the production value. There's a reason why other NFL teams, with similar or worse RB situations than us, aren't beating down the doors for these guys.

there's no point you watching next year then if you already know what's going to happen... You don't have to believe me just watch where they are predicted to finish by the professionals. And those professionals whiff on said predictions A LOT. That's why people don't watch what they say.

Signing Claiborne obviously wouldn't stop us from drafting a corner. The two have nothing to do with each other. Even if all we do is draft a corner, that basically gives you Jimmy, Young (who is better in the slot) and a rookie. Not exactly the depth we are looking for, especially when you're #1 corner misses time often. When it comes to Corner, you're probably looking at a cheap veteran signing AND a decent draft pick, not OR a decent draft pick. They do have something do with each other. It means we have don't sign a FA Cb whose price is high due to demand. And we can draft two CBs. One oft injured cb to alleviate another oft injured cb is not a plan. And those FA cbs have worked out recently. 1. We have no clue what Claiborne's price is. So far, there's been very little discussion of him at all in FA, which means he's highly unlikely to be part of the first wave of higher paid players. You're just guessing that his price would be high. 2. We could still draft two corners if we signed him... again, that stops nothing from happening in the draft. You're also probably highly unlikely to sign a corner who doesn't get injured or draft a corner who won't get injured, because, frankly, corners get injured a lot. You can go back and look at the history of our franchise and you'll see a lot of corners that have been injured multiple times. You're right, those FA CBs haven't worked out recently. And neither have the draft picks. Its the hardest position in the league in my opinion to evaluate and get your money's worth out of, save for maybe QB. You're gambling in either scenario.

So your basically saying west is gona play 1st and 2nd downs ( 2 mil tender) and Woodhead is here to play third downs. Dixon is their backup. Yes it's an upgrade from last year, but It sucks because it feels like we wasted a 3rd and 4th on Allen and tallifaro. Im not sure it's enough of an upgrade to warrant spending around 6 mil more on RB position. That's the odd part. i really hope I'm wrong but that investment could have landed us JCharles or A.Peterson or any RB in FA. I really like Woodhead as a player but I'm not sure he's the best signing for the Ravens... No, I'm saying West and Dixon are going to compete for snaps, and Woodhead is going to play 3rd down. I'm not sure why people think that a $2M tender automatically gives West a starting job... $2M players are typically backup/role players in this league. I have zero interest in AP or Charles, and most of the league seems to feel the same way. Actually hard to see what value they would bring to the team. Again, too many fans thinking of Woodhead as a traditional RB. I see him far more as an option in the passing game (2 minute drills, late in games, etc.) and as a significant upgrade in pass protection, which fans often overlook.

Signing Claiborne obviously wouldn't stop us from drafting a corner. The two have nothing to do with each other. Even if all we do is draft a corner, that basically gives you Jimmy, Young (who is better in the slot) and a rookie. Not exactly the depth we are looking for, especially when you're #1 corner misses time often. When it comes to Corner, you're probably looking at a cheap veteran signing AND a decent draft pick, not OR a decent draft pick.

Well, lets not kid ourselves. The reason that Williams and his agents are trying to get a deal done with Baltimore is mostly because we're offering close to, if not the most, amount of money. If we were like $2-3M a year below other teams, we wouldn't even be having a conversation right now. And obviously, no GM should or would get fired for failing to sign a NT who doesn't rush the passer and plays about half of the defensive snaps. Definitely a gross exaggeration and lacks perspective.

Will preface this by saying that its an "odd" signing. But... I don't think fans are realistically banking on Allen or Taliaferro as contributors, so that leaves you with West and Dixon. I like Dixon's versatility, but he's not great in pass protection from what I've seen, and Woodhead is as good of a 3rd down back as I've seen in this league. If we're looking to add playmakers, Woodhead certainly qualifies.

Calling everybody "fans" like he isn't one. Lol comical. Just like people, not all fans are created "equal". Some fans like to invest the time in gaining education and knowledge about their team and actually being able to discuss the topic logically. And some, well, don't. Some prefer to just spew off baseless opinions and prefer to know less. In the end, everybody just has to decide what kind of "fan" they want to be.

I see your point but the only problem is that our secondary depth has been a joke and maybe paying him 1-2 mil less would be worth it even if just to have somebody reliable step in. Who is left on our roster? Canady, Huff and .... did we resign levine? I seriously dont know who is left after we make cuts and whoever it is are they worth letting webb go? When Jimmy misses a couple games next season who will stop the bleeding? Shift young to cb with s help like last year. There is still value in keeping webb The draft would be the answer to most of those questions. FA is just the beginning of adding players, not the end. We still want youth at Safety and Corner, and I fully expect us to consider to address both in FA and especially the draft.

Problem is, you can't just "pay Williams whatever he wants." There's this thing called the salary cap. The difficulty is figuring out how to spread that money while retaining top-tier talent and keeping people happy. This isn't the MLB. Apparently run stopping NTs who play half of the defensive snaps win SBs for you...

Maybe and I'm sure many will agree with you but looking at our depth in the secondary and the fact that Webb can play both Safety and CB I would much rather negotiate a pay reduction and bring him back as a backup. Webb may not be as good as he was a few years ago but at least he is a consistent, solid player. He is also a true Raven and has a lot of experience in our system. Always been a team player, never complained and is active in the community. It's just my opinion but I say Webb retires a Raven. He's due $5.5M, which we can clear all of that if they cut him. So if he's going to take a paycut, it would have to be a heck of a paycut, because asking him to shave $1-2M isn't probably worth it. He'd literally have to take like a $3-4M paycut in my eyes, and he can easily get more than that on the open market as a Safety or a Corner. If the Jefferson deal goes through, I see no way he's on the roster. I like the idea of depth, but not at $3-4M a year for a backup safety I don't. I doubt they would view him as anything better than the 4th or 5th corner either.

Again, you have no clue what you're talking about... 1. Williams isn't even on the field for roughly half of the defensive snaps. Which you probably don't know, because I don't think you watch the games. 2. Suggs is staying. He's more than good enough for what he gets paid. 3. Jimmy isn't getting traded or cut, because he's very clearly the MVP of this defense. What practically any game where he's on the field vs one's where he's not... the difference in the defense is staggering. Would have thought fans would have learned this after last season, but again, that would require them to watch games. 4. You're not getting two top tier corners because there aren't any available and they're too expensive, especially when a lot of the moves you advocated would cost us more cap space than create it. 5. Flacco can't restructure practically anything, because there's only $6M of his salary this season that is touchable. Again, you're wasting your time even talking about Flacco, because nothing is going to change there. Stop whining about it. 6. Mallett has shown nothing in actual games that he could lead even a good team to an 8-8 record. He played for a pretty talented team in Houston and went 2-4. He's a backup QB prototype.

1. Webb will be cut once we finalize the Jefferson deal. 2. Flacco is here for the next two years at a minimum, and likely much longer. That's set in stone. There's no notice to be given. 3. We're certainly not done cutting players, and there will be several "big names" on it probably, with Doom and Webb highlighting the class at this point. But keep in mind that there is this thing called the salary cap, and you can't just cut anybody you want at any time without some cap ramifications. Its why guys like Flacco, Suggs, Jimmy, etc. aren't on the list of considerations to be cut. Ignoring the fact that they shouldn't be cut, they're also not getting cut because it essentially costs the team more to make them go away then it is to keep them.

Surprised me too.... It is becoming very clear and even simple....we need 2 top level OL to play with Stanley and Yanda assuming we sign Mangold. If Flacco doesn't take a pay cut then release him and go with Mallet. If they lose Williams then they won't finish with a winning record and that should end the Harbaugh era. They need a beast to play with Mosely in the middle. They need 3-4 OLBs that stop the run and rush the passer. Overall they need 4-5 guys in the front seven presuming that Kausi and Correia are the busts they proved to be in year one. Dumervil, Webb, Suggs and the china doll (Jimmy Smith) are of no exceptional value to the team and should be traded or released Signing Jeffferson was a step n the right direction Ugh, where to begin... 1. We're not releasing Flacco nor could we release Flacco. He costs more to cut/trade than he does to keep. No point in mentioning anything even remotely resembling him playing elsewhere. 2. Losing a run stopping NT has never stopped a team from winning. 3. You're over exaggerating the needs by a wide margin (obviously).

Surprised me too.... Well, in defense, Woodhead is loosely described as a RB in my eyes. We likely wouldn't see him actually running the football very often.

Don't worry. They always have a crappy year. They haven't been worse than 7-9 since 2012, so this isn't really true. Two playoff appearances during that time as well. Only NFC team to have NEVER appeared in the Super Bowl. Pathetic Joe has three more playoff victories in his nine year career than the Lions do in their ENTIRE history! That's from 1930! That's almost NINETY years! That's PRETTY crappy. And yet their record is practically the same as the Ravens the last few years, so that makes us crappy as well. Obviously nobody cares about what a franchise did 80 years ago or even 10 years ago, because its totally different players. And naturally, nobody remembers or cares.