Tank 92

Big, strong, agile, talented, young LT, RT and C from anywhere.      

premise remains the same. They aren't afraid to pay premier players. They mustn't believe monroe falls into that category

I don't think it is the same.  If Monroe had been here in bmore playing at a high level under a rookie contract I think we would be more willing to give more because of what he would have contributed to the Team years prior.

I agree. I'm curious, do you think we would offer him the contract he wants if we had not traded for him and kept Mickinne for the rest of the year ?

I think our terms of negotiation would be much the same as they are now.

I sure hope we can find common ground and get him signed. 

Over the years im sure they went above and beyond what they wanted to with the likes of rice suggs ngata joe ed ray etc but they felt those players were in the elite category at their position and thus gave in to their demands so to speak. The must not feel that about monroe.

All of these guys played at a high level with the Ravens prior to getting lucrative vet deals. Haloti for example averaged less than $3 mil. annually during his first 5 years while performing at an all pro level. Monroe has no tenure with the Team and I feel his negotiations are treated more like a free agent signing rather than rewarding a player that has performed well as a Raven during his rookie contract.  

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.

Me too. The O line has to be fixed and if Monroe is gone it will make it awfully difficult to get that done.

I still think Eugene Monroe is the only Free Agent on offense we should pursue until teams start making roster cuts. This draft has so much offensive talent, that we should just wait and continue the trend of patient spending.

 

 

This ^

Why does it seem like the common thinking is that since we didn't franchise him were not going to sign him?

I still think we resign him to a deal that is fair to both sides. It'll look big but be another 5 year deal that's really a 3 year deal with 2 cap friendly years in the beginning and a sharp jump year 3 and a 4th/5th year option for extension he continues to improve or you can cut bait.

I still see us signing him to 5 years $45-48mill with about $20mill guaranteed.

I'm guessing Pitta was their priority and talks with Monroe are "far apart" bc they just started. I think we're starting at $6-7/yr and they're starting around $11-12/yr. Monroe's sweet spot is prob $9-10 and ours is probably $8-9.

I see it being settled somewhere around $9-9.5/yr and both sides giving a little.

Weve still got 8 more days that we can talk to his agent while no one else can.

My thoughts exactly.   I look at not using the tag as a positive sign that they are not that far apart and confident a deal gets done.

My guess is that a deal is close. I'll be very surprised if we let him walk.

That's well and good, but guys like Monroe do not re-establish the market. If he wants paid more than the $8M other comparable players are getting, he'll need to get that elsewhere

Isn't that what folks were saying about Joe?  

I think we end up paying Monroe a little more than he might be worth. Considering the state of the O line last year, I can't see the Ravens taking a chance at finding a suitable replacement via the draft or FA. 

 

 

The only thing Ozzie messed up in was NOT FINDING A VIABLE REPLACEMENT FOR BOLDIN(Gino doesn't count seeing as he has a leigit chance to redeem himself). If the running game actually works, then this team is a playoff team.  

 

 

I don't think this would have been an issue if Pitta had not gone down and been active from the beginning of the year.  Having a viable target at TE would have given the WR corps a better chance to succeed.  Losing Jacoby at the start didn't help matters either.

that's exactly why I would rather just throw $6m per year at Alex Mack.

if Monroe gets $9-10 elsewhere, we can take that $3-4 we saved and put it towards another OL.

IDK man, a LT is a much tougher find than C. Monroe is top 10, young and healthy. I think we need to pay him.

The best LT in the world isn't going to protect Flacco if half the oline is crap, teams don't just rush from the blindside.

Even if it requires compromising acquisitions at other positions, the O line will be fixed.  Bank on it. 

If we can't do a deal with Monroe we will have lots of $$$ to make a run at Alex Mack C in Cleveland. Although I hope we get Monroe re-signed AND go after Mack.

I'd rather see this happen than going after a big $ WR or S.  The O line needs to be priority 1 now that Pitta is signed.

Funny how most of the board thought he'd sign for under 7 million.

They didn't know the market value of a top 10 LT, especially one that is 26 and healthy.

Monroe will be a Raven in 2014 and he'll be making top $.

Players hate the tag because it has no benefits for injury or long term assurance. They're not motivated to play hard because they could risk injury, and that money is all guaranteed. It's not like a regular contract with incentives where they have to earn it.

I agree with the first part in normal circumstances, but Monroe has no tenure here. It seems getting tagged would be more of a calculated gamble by him than an instance where he holds all the cards. 

Not motivated to play hard? I doubt that's the case. Fact is an injury is more likely to happen if a player isn't playing hard. And Monroe has nothing to gain by half stepping, and in the long run, everything to lose.

I think he's saying that players hate to play under the franchise tag (which is true) and he wants to avoid another McKinnie who isn't motivated to play

Exactly, not to mention Gaither.

Eh, I could see the point if Monroe had been a Raven for a couple of years, but I don't see him getting miffed in this situation. I'm sure he and his agent realize the likelihood of the tag if they push hard. I just don't see him him losing motivation if it happens and there's still the chance a deal gets done prior to the season. 

I think I'd rather not tag Monroe. Haven't we had just about enough of the malcontented LT?

???

It is odd that so many don't think he's worth the tag cost. If I'm correct, that cost is just below 10M. He is most certainly getting in that neighborhood on a long term deal, so I don't know why that is they way some are thinking,

 

I do believe we want to sign him long term before we have to use the tag, but I also think if we can't come to terms by then, we will use the tag. I think given the uncertainty around tagging Pitta and the whole TE vs. WR debate, that we'd lean toward using it for Monroe. 

Me thinks you are right. The Ravens will pay market $ for Monroe, it makes sense.

Monroe, KO, Mack, Yanda, Wagner(?)    Would be a very stout group.

better listen to Sizzle............don't leave home without him.

The team gave him that deal.  Football is a business.  He has his ring, some All Pro selections and a few pro bowls.  Time to secure your financial future.  He played out his rookie contract when was outperforming it.  Now he's under performing and he should give back, why?  

No one talks about Haloti making a whopping $14 mil. total during his first 5 seasons while playing at an all pro level. Next year is the payday of his vet deal and it all averages out to a very reasonable annual amount.

Interesting note: Suggs has been in the league almost 3x as long as Pitta, but is only 3 years older...

I had forgotten about this........... Dennis was redshirted and also took two years for mission work in the DR. Along with his hip, that makes the guaranteed $ that much more important to him as this may be his first and last vet deal..

I didn't read or actually hear anything(except a couple of comments here) about a rift between Kubiak and Jacoby, but thought it was very interesting that he took the time in his press conference to talk about their relationship. Saying "he's like a son" and that he called to congratulate him after the SB makes it sound like they are pretty tight.

http://boards.houstontexans.com/showthread.php?t=40876

Not really reading anything bad about him off their forum

One texans fan said Kubiak should improve working with Harbaugh as he is a "top 5 HC". Seems Harbs is well respected outside of Bmore.

Bookmarking this thread to revisit when ( if ) we have our first loss.  See who wants to hang Kubiak out to dry.

damn!  Are you saying we might lose a game?