rmcjacket23

Training camp cut into our salary cap also, doesn't matter if its the league minimum or not. I'd rather bring somebody in for the league minimum who can actually contribute. Besides, we already know he's not the kind of runner who fits our system.

There's no way I'd want to take a $6M hit in 2016 for Webb. 2016 is a big year for us cap space wise. You've got Joe's cap # doubling to about $28M, and if he doesn't agree to restructure/extend, you've got a problem there (and he has all the leverage in that season). You'd also have Jimmy Smith up for a potentially big contract, and you'd have both Yanda and KO has UFAs that season if Yanda doesn't get an extension.

I don't think he brings any value to this team from a skill perspective, so I'd pass.

I don't see this happening though. Realistically speaking, its likely that 2015 is Webb's last season with us unless he agrees to take a massive pay cut (and he may not even play in 2015 to begin with). That, coupled with the fact that our best corner is in a contract year and coming off a bad injury, means that you probably can't just count on signing one FA corner to help us in the long run... you're more than likely going to have to draft a corner with the hopes that he's a quality performer by year 2 or 3 (ala Jimmy Smith). I don't think we are likely to have the cap space to spend on a major FA corner regardless of what we do, so any FA corner we sign would be of the #3 corner variety most likely (ala Graham). As for safety, I'm just not convinced they feel the position requires major attention. I think they know they're bringing back Hill as a starter, and they're just going to try to have an open competition in camp for the other spot. Ideally, they'd put guys like Elam, Brooks and possibly even somebody like Miles in a camp battle and see who comes out on top. I suppose they could add a cheap veteran FA or a draft pick of some sort, but I'm not expecting much there.

I agree with this... I don't think its necessarily a one or the other scenario. I see plenty of scenarios where we lose both.

Correct. Even if we gave Ngata an extension, the absolute minimum he could cost for the season would be around $8.5M ($7.5M carried over from prior bonus amount, and at least a $1M salary). Given that we would almost certainly give him some kind of signing bonus, possibly in the $10M range, you'd probably be looking at adding at least $2-3M more to that. I think, conservatively, if we extend Ngata, he's going to count somewhere in the neighborhood of $10-12M against the cap this season, and that could easily be more. So in reality, an extension would probably save us, in a best case scenario, about $5-6M against the cap this season. However, I think any deal we give him would probably have less than half guaranteed money, and there would probably be no guaranteed money left after the first two years (ala Suggs). So, realistically, while he might carry a $10-12M cap number this season, he might easily carry half of that the next season, and he certainly wouldn't have that high of numbers in the future.

Yeah, I should have seen that before I posted. Still for me, completely don't see the benefit of it. Its one thing to make the decision after June 1, but designating a post June-1 three months earlier is basically just slapping a band aid on a bigger problem. I understand they were desperate for cap space that season because of a flat cap, but you got a guy carrying $1.5M in cap space two seasons after he's been gone. It probably doesn't mean as much with lower contracts like theirs, but when you talk about somebody like Webb... there's not much to like about the idea of carrying a $4M and $6M cap hit in back to back years for a player that won't even be playing for your team in either of those seasons.

Pollard wasn't a post June-1 cut I don't believe. He was released in March.

Yeah, but I really hate post June-1 cuts, and I think clearly Ozzie does as well. You're not gaining anything long-term from doing that, and you're just pushing almost $2M in cap hit to 2016 for a player that is long gone from your roster. I only see that, much like Webb, IF the Ravens find a player they like that late in the year, and they really need the money. That's pretty rare generally. Even guys that we equate to be coming in "late" in terms of FA like Daryl Smith at least get signed by April or May usually. I think Jacoby stays this year and is easily the last year he will be a Raven.

He's a tough case. Not much salary cap relief from letting him go, and nobody on the roster currently that stands out as a better bet to replace him, or at least not on KO duties.

I don't know too much about him, but any chance he gets a look as the primary kickoff returner if we cut Jacoby?

Well, decrease in production is also mostly based on the execution and talent of the players in the offense. Coaches coach and players play.

Or, we might find some bitter fans who just don't like it when things don't go their way... ... sort of like what Broncos fans who come on these boards to find out "information" about Kubiak would see...

Why do we care about what Bears fans say about him again?

O not even remotely joking... it would be way worse with Tebow. Tebow actually has a mild track record of NFL success... Tyrod doesn't.

Agreed, but Trestman isn't the HC here either, so even the OC has to sort of answer to the HC if the gameplan isn't being followed. If Trestman comes out the first few weeks and Joe's throwing 50 passes a game and we are losing, I have no doubt Harbaugh will force changes to the gameplan. Keep in mind that falling behind early and by a lot in a game is generally a combination of 1. ineffective offensive production early and 2. poor defensive play (among other possible factors, like turnovers). Our defense is far from great, but its a lot better than the Bears was, and pretty typically in the Harbaugh era, we aren't the kind of teaming falling behind by 14 points or more in the first half. I think the volume of the rushing attack will still be adequate (though probably not as much as Kubiak's), but it still comes down to execution. Running the ball 20-25 times on a team that can't block and can't run (see 2013) doesn't make a whole lot of sense either. I have no reason to suspect that will be the case in 2015.

I wouldn't... because sadly, you'd have some fans that think he'd be a better QB after Joe has a bad game. I don't think he adds any benefit to this team whatsoever...

For me, its simple... I think most fans would agree that Trestman projects to be good for Joe Flacco. The question that nobody can really possibly know at this time is whether he is good for the entire offense overall. Conventional wisdom says he really can't run this offense just like he did in Chicago (at least not right now), because frankly, he had better "toys" to play with over there (we have nobody skill-wise like Marshall, Jeffery or Forte on this roster right now). The offensive line figures to be much better than what he had in Chicago, so that should be a plus regardless. He's experienced, and people in his industry generally have high praise for him. That's sufficient enough for me.

Its possible, though I'd say unlikely. Bears could save almost $4M against the cap by cutting him. Problem is... he's only in year 2 of his deal in 2015, and he has a fully guaranteed $7.5M base salary. So basically, you're looking at that kind of cap hit at a minimum, and I don't think we could take that on in 2015. He is 30, but he probably does have a couple good years left in him, but it'd obviously be nice to get somebody younger and cheaper.

I'm fine with it... as long as he's not of the "lets throw it 50 times a game" mentality...

Its not like the players are just going to start playing half-assed. Its just without a pretty good QB, you really don't have a prayer in this league. You don't have to have a great QB to win, but you can't have a bad one. And the overwhelming majority of backup QBs in league history were "bad" when compared to the rest of the league, and that would almost certainly be the case for us.

Lower your expectations. Without Flacco, we would be lucky to contend for a division title, let alone a championship. High expectations are great... as long as they are realistic and reasonable. And yes, in terms of QB play, the college game is lightyears different than the NFL.

Didn't start for anybody... that's the point. He's sort of in the Case Keenum class... a guy that was only starting because of injury or because the guy in front of him was really bad, but if he's starting 16 games for you, you've got no shot. Wenning is probably going to be the backup, so this probably doesn't matter.

Yes, that's what Curtis Painter is... a vet. If you're asking should we spend the money to bring in some perceived "high end" backup that magically might win us like 8-9 games, then no, we shouldn't.

Very rare... I'd say most are either older (soon to be out of the league) or they just aren't HC material. Even guys like LeBeau, who fans perceive as being with the Steelers for decades, took a HC gig with the Bengals about a decade ago. Frankly, I'd have serious reservations about hiring people who are content with being assistant coaches...