ZooDane

Good to see the Ravens no longer follow the best player available approach. And somehow Ray Rice still dictates our draft board. Anyone who has ever been accused of swatting at a fly is no longer draftable.

What we did get was a bundle of dead money against our salary cap. I might have opted to keep him around for the season even if he was a backup just for depth. In the end, we will see how Stanley handles being the starter for the next 4 + years. There's absolutely no reason to keep Monroe, better to eat the money now than later. If we were to release him next year we would still have dead money in 2017 and then in 2018. Having the 3rd largest cap hit on your team be a backup severely hurts the team, and hurts it in the long run. By creating more cap space now the Ravens have the ammunition to go out and aggressively pursue any quality veterans that may (some definitely will be as they are every year) be cut this off-season. We have several positions that are very deep. Cutting players that have no future with the team creates more room for others that can contribute. Dumping Monroe likely means we'll be able to keep another WR, maybe both Campanaro and Reynolds as opposed to one or the other. Or we'll be able to hold onto another DB for depth. The point being that Monroe will not only not contribute to the team in any way on the bench but he'll hurt it by eating up a roster spot and a lot of money that could go toward a quality veteran that likely will be released sometime before the season.

Why would we cut him June 1st? I say you at least keep him through training camp/pre-season to see how he plays. Stanley needs to prove he can play LT at the NFL level. If he comes out and dominates, then you can cut Monroe. If he looks like hes not ready, keep Monroe at LT and move Stanley to LG for a year so he can get experienced playing time. As for Monroe donating money for cannabis research, I don't see how that should have any effect on how the Ravens evaluate his position on the roster. If given the opportunity and he plays better than Stanley, he gets the LT job. Period. I really don't believe the Ravens or the NFL in general will have some kind of vendetta against him for speaking publicly about the benefits of medical cannabis. If he was advocating everyone just go out and smoke weed, yeah, there would be a problem. However, using his position to speak about a social issue with clarity and logical arguments show intelligence and reserve that should be respected. I have no issue with the actual act of donating for research. The fact that he's been on a crusade for as long as I can remember is the issue. Every other word out of his mouth is talking about marijuana. Most will disagree but the Ravens absolutely do not want to deal with that. If you think Monroe didn't force the Ravens hand in drafting Stanley at 6, you're kidding yourself (let's not get wrapped up in Stanley as I think he's great). They had tunsil and Stanley still on the board and I guarantee they could've dropped 2-4 spots and still got one of them. But couldnt afford to miss out on Stanley with Tunsils incident. If they had faith in Monroe and thought he would be the best left tackle this year (he's still 29 and has 4-5 good years left if they believed in him) they would've taken Buckner or traded down and got another good player. You don't take a QB in the first because Flacco is 31 and just tore an ACL, do you? There's a time and a place for everything. Coming off two seasons where he was awful, (when he actually managed to touch the field) after getting paid like a top LT, would be classified under not the time or place. Leave it to the NFLPA for now and pick up the crusade after he retires (which will be very soon because if you follow him at all you know he has no love for the game is seemingly is only in it for the paycheck). 1, Yes, Monroe forced the Ravens hand, but only because the guy can't stay healthy. Yes, he looked bad most of last season, but he was good enough to keep on the team. Right now he is on his way out because its pointless to have a starting left tackle how is always on the bench. 2. We could debate all day long about what Ozzie would have done, but Ozzie will always take the best available first and the biggest need second and who's to say he didn't value both tackles higher then Buckner. And while Buckner would have probably been an upgrade over of the other defensive ends currently on the team, it wasn't a big need, while the offensive line was an area that they need to improve on this season. 3. Personally I don't think Ozzie is concerned with what Monroe is saying about legalizing weed, just as long as he passes all his drug tests and comes into camp ready to fight for a position on this team Monroe was kept on the team because it would've made absolutely no sense to cut him given the cap penalties it would've incurred - that is until this offseason. We can talk about Ozzie taking the BPA all day, and that's all we hear. But he can also trade up and down the draft board. Monroe was gone the second Stanley was picked. Stanley was likely the Ravens BPA but, again, their hand was forced to take him there. As opposed to trade back a few spots and hopefully get him later or another top talent. If he had any faith in Monroe I would have to think they trade back a few spots and get someone else and draft a developmental tackle in the middle rounds from the compensation. Yes, Ozzie doesn't care about what a player does off the field. However, the rest of the organization does. I'm sure you've already heard all about the squeaky clean records of all the new draftees (save Lewis). Ozzie, DeCosta, and the front office obviously like those guys but as an organization it signals that they want to distance themselves from off fied distractions. In all, no Monroe isn't gone because of his marijuana talk. It's in large part because of his poor play and lack of durability. But his crusade certainly gave the extra shove out the door.

Why would we cut him June 1st? I say you at least keep him through training camp/pre-season to see how he plays. Stanley needs to prove he can play LT at the NFL level. If he comes out and dominates, then you can cut Monroe. If he looks like hes not ready, keep Monroe at LT and move Stanley to LG for a year so he can get experienced playing time. As for Monroe donating money for cannabis research, I don't see how that should have any effect on how the Ravens evaluate his position on the roster. If given the opportunity and he plays better than Stanley, he gets the LT job. Period. I really don't believe the Ravens or the NFL in general will have some kind of vendetta against him for speaking publicly about the benefits of medical cannabis. If he was advocating everyone just go out and smoke weed, yeah, there would be a problem. However, using his position to speak about a social issue with clarity and logical arguments show intelligence and reserve that should be respected. I have no issue with the actual act of donating for research. The fact that he's been on a crusade for as long as I can remember is the issue. Every other word out of his mouth is talking about marijuana. Most will disagree but the Ravens absolutely do not want to deal with that. If you think Monroe didn't force the Ravens hand in drafting Stanley at 6, you're kidding yourself (let's not get wrapped up in Stanley as I think he's great). They had tunsil and Stanley still on the board and I guarantee they could've dropped 2-4 spots and still got one of them. But couldnt afford to miss out on Stanley with Tunsils incident. If they had faith in Monroe and thought he would be the best left tackle this year (he's still 29 and has 4-5 good years left if they believed in him) they would've taken Buckner or traded down and got another good player. You don't take a QB in the first because Flacco is 31 and just tore an ACL, do you? There's a time and a place for everything. Coming off two seasons where he was awful, (when he actually managed to touch the field) after getting paid like a top LT, would be classified under not the time or place. Leave it to the NFLPA for now and pick up the crusade after he retires (which will be very soon because if you follow him at all you know he has no love for the game is seemingly is only in it for the paycheck).

Can it be June 1st so we can just cut Monroe already?

Completely unrelated to the article but Perriman... come on man just shave the head. It's already half way gone.

This is an amazing pickup. We go from the worst ranked center (per PFF) to the 22nd ranked center. Ozzie is known for his ability to obtain compensatory picks every year, so think of this trade as giving up one of those. We're giving up a late draft pick for a proven commodity. He may not be the best center out there but we don't need, and can't afford, the best players at every position. Zuttah has the size, experience, and versatility that our line needs. RT is all that we have left to address, Ozzie is building another winner.