PolishRifle

I don't think Ozzie is reading this forum, dude. Atleast I hope not.

I hope we still get a WR in the 1st or 2nd even if we sign Steve Smith.

 

1. Torrey

2. Steve Smith

3. Marlon Brown

4. Jacoby

 

Wonder where a top rookie wr would fit in, hard to believe we re-signed Jacoby just for him to return kicks and be our 5th WR

Why not? He's a fantastic KR and this team has always counted on very good ST players. If Marqise Lee falls to us, we need to pick him up imho, because he has the potential to be a true #1 WR:

1. Lee

2. Torrey

3. Steve

4. Marlon

5. Jacoby

If we end up drafting a Mike Evans, who is still a bit raw, the addition of Smith would give us the time to develop him as a player and ease him into a increasingly bigger role on offense, which would be another way this signing could help us.

In the end we can't just sit on our hands and hope things go our way like last season. Torrey is not consistent enough to be Flacco's go to target and Marlon, while showing promise, still only had a 500 yrds season. Jacoby is great in making big plays, but lacks the hands to be counted on every down and we haven't seen anything from Mellette yet. There is alot of uncertainty with our WRs with or without Steve Smith on it.

Barely any good red zone targets, close to no 3rd down targets, those are all results of the Ravens FO not making big moves to  improve our WR roster, because they "like the guys we have".

Steve Smith really doesn't solve our WR woes. Our WR core is extremely weak and Smith is coming off a 700 yrds season. He makes us better and might help our younger WRs, but if we don't draft a WR in the first 2 round with all the great talent that is available in this draft at that position, then we're making a huge mistake.

And there we go.  Still heavy interest apparently.

Yes and no interest from us.

sadly he's going to be a jag

I think he ment the Dolphins free safety. The Jets seem to be interested in him.

Seems like that's probably the plan at this point.  All FA focuses, except for Daryl Smith, seem to be going to the offensive side of the ball.  I can't blame them, but one position I really want them to hit on defense is FS.  They all went off the market really quickly though.  Clemons seems like the most logical choice, but he doesn't fit the rangy playmaker that Ozzie described at season's end.

Too bad. In a WR class as stacked as this years, we'll miss out on a lot of difference makers. Lets get more Alabama guys I guess.

Not a peep.  The Steelers, Eagles, and Redskins have shown interest, though.

Darn. Elam is better suited for SS and I don't feel comfortable with two young safeties being on the field at the same time. That can lead to costly mistakes.

So Chris Clemons is the best safety available. Anyone heard any news of Oz trying to sign him?

I'm sad to see Graham go. He was a solid player for us. But, I am also glad that he's getting paid and gets the chance somewhere else, where he might get a bigger role on defense.

Sorry, one of the main reasons we won the SB and could have easily won the MVP.

How can a SB winning QB not win the MVP after he played lights out? I stand by it. Your comment was silly. Jacoby is a great kick returner though and I'm glad he's back.

Co-SB MVP

That's just silly.

Jacoby is a good KR, but not an answer for our problems at WR. We still need someone Flacco can depend in 3rd down situations. I would like us to solve that problem through the draft. Maybe a Marqise Lee or a Odell Beckham Jr.

if steve smith is released, signing him would create a nice scenario. can't count on a rookie receiver to come in and have an impact right off the bat, and smith would allow a draft pick time to develop and eventually fill-in once he retires. he would be a nice stop gap for two years, and would provide flexibility if they wanted to focus on a mosley at lb or pryor or clinton-dix at safety in round 1. signing smith would make him and t. smith the first two receivers on the field, allowing us to go receiver in rounds 2-3 given the solid depth at the position. ravens would be looking at smith as a proven commodity that fits their style, while not blocking the way for a potential high round draft pick in the future.  

An ILB in the middle of the first round? Mosley is NOT Luke Kuechly. Both Pryor and Clinton-Dix would be a reach also. They're more late first round draft picks, the way Elam was.

The only position that has a high enough value for our spot in the draft to fit the "best player available" rule, is the WR position. A guy like Marqise Lee would finally give the Ravens that #1 WR, that the Ravens never had.

This is all Flacco's fault!

Rookie receivers rarely ever make a seamless transition and immediate impact in the pros, AJ Green is the only one that comes to mind in recent years. So signing someone like Smith would be in an effort to win NOW, not in a few years.

Late round prospects might not work out now or ever. Streeter, Reed, Doss. We had so many WRs ready to "step up" when Boldin got traded and what happened? Will we get Smith and draft someone in the first 3 rounds? I doubt it with our draft MO in the past.

I expect us to go both routes free agency and draft. If we go with someone like Smith, Nicks, or Edelman in free agency we can invest in a WR in rounds 3-5. If we choose to go younger and pickups a WR early in the draft we could grab a cheaper WR such as , Lance Moore,Nate Burleson. or Jason Avant.

Tandon Doss was a 4th round draft pick.

Ravens aren't offering a restricted tender to Tandon Doss, would be interested in possibly re-signing him, according to a source

I'm sure Ozzie knows Smith isn't a long term option. We'd still desperately need another receiver and in this deep draft I don't believe he'd neglect that with that signing. It would allow us to focus on other positions such as FS & OL which are both just as important and tougher to find.

Veteran receivers and late round draft picks, that's all we've been doing in the past. Where did that get us last season?

I don't want Steve Smith. This year's draft has a very deep WR class and we're about to pass on some great young talent in favor of a 34 year old.

Just saying that if we cant run the ball or protect the quarterback, it won't matter who's out there at receiver

I would love to have Mack AND Monroe in our OL. Those are players, who are better than anything we would be able to get in the draft.

Steve Smith on the other hand seems less interesting with one of the deepest WR drafts coming soon.

Steve Smith would give Ozzie a good excuse not to draft a WR early this year. We all know how scared he is to do that.

Baltimore sun reporting Ravens showing interest in WR Steve Smith

It would be nice to give Flacco a great young WR for a change and not always those old guys.

Unless Ozzie gets a safety in FA, we might get stuck with Clinton-Dix. Nothing like a Bama Bust, eh?

I think Clinton-Dix will actually do well in the NFL. He's a great athlete with really good instincts. I think he will be one of the few exceptions to the "all Bama guys are kinda mediocre"-rule (see Julio Jones).

Sometimes this motto is misguided (see: Boldin, Anquan).

I think you need to sometimes bend the "right player for the right price"-rule, if you need to retain a player who is important for the organization or plays a position, that is hard to fill.

I'm a huge Flacco supporter and even I can admit, that we paid alot to keep him, but was it worth it? HECK YES!!!

Quality LTs are really hard to find. I hope Ozzie's gamble works out and Monroe comes back.

Thats not the case anymore, defensive co-ordinators take advantage of mismatches and bring pressure from all sides, thats why a decent front 5 is better than 2 elite linemen eating up $18M of the cap. Look at the LT's on the last 5 SuperBowl winners, not exactly an All-pro group. 

And how do we know, that we will be able to put a "decent front 5" together? Are we keeping Oher, who was widely inconsistent even at RT? Will Gino ever be a good Center or are we having to draft someone? Will KO come back healthy? All we do know is, that Yanda and Monroe are good players and only one of them has a contract, while we invested two draft picks into the other already. Those are the only things, that are certain as far as the OL is concerned, the rest, the way the FA and Draft shape out to be are pure speculation.

We just signed Flacco to a mega deal and we need to give him a solid starter at LT. If we don't resign Monroe I don't know who else we will sign and they will cost quite a bit of money. Im completely fine with giving Monroe $10-11 million a year for 5 years, but make it cap friendly and give him around $21 million guaranteed. I think both sides are going to get a deal done and we won't have to slap the tag on him. 

It's hard to find a franchise LT outside the top 10. I don't think we will end up this high in the draft for a long time. The way the NFL is right now, a franchise LT, just like a franchise QB, are the two type of players nobody should have a problem overpaying for.

Pay him whatever he wants.