BigUgly

Guy was a nice plug in at DE.  We might find some bargains to shore up our front 7 here in the second round of FA.

ILB - Zach Brown, Gerald Hodges, D'Qwell Jackson, and Mike Minter all compare favorably to the "top guy" Donta Hightower, and should be far cheaper to acquire (maybe Hoodie sees the same thing, which is why he hasn't re-signed his own guy yet).  Of the bunch, I like Hodges the best as he can actually cover guys coming out of the backfield and rush the passer.

DL - Tyson Alualu, Leger Douzable, Bennie Logan, Chris Long, Tony McDaniel, Jared Odrick, and Devin Taylor offer equal or greater productivity to what we lost in Guy.

Edge - Connor Barwin, Armonty Bryant, Dwight Freeney, Jarvis Jones, Paul Kruger (lol), Alex Okafor, Eric Walden (11 sacks!), and Demarcus Ware - Someone from this bunch might be worth kicking the tires on as either a multi-down edge setter or a situational pass-rusher on a short-term deal. 

15 hours ago, Maurice0094 said:

Good Guy he deserves getting his scrilla. This will definitely help our compensatory pick for next year too.

Not sure he'll meet the criteria (or Ducasse, for that matter).  Ozzie knowingly gave up our comp position by signing T Jeff (makes sense) and Danny Woodhead (not so much).  

Surprised no one has kicked the tires on Aiken.  He may be back, if he can get over his frustration over lack of targets last year.

31 minutes ago, The Beak said:

Don't underestimate B Will, he is a difference maker , not just a gap filler, there is a HUGE difference between Brandon and Pierce, we are lucky to retain B-Will....

Glad we have B-Will, but at nearly $11M/yr, that could've covered a FA CB and ILB or OL.

Pierce is actually more explosive and powerful in the middle than B-Will.

7 hours ago, ellicottraven said:

This is a decision I'm not terribly excited about. Not only will Joe's growth remain stunted so will Maxx Williams' lack of opportunity. He is still a health risk and can't gain yards after catch and will trap Flacco into dump off passes to Pitta repeatedly. I don't know why but I think this decision lacks foresight and courage on the part of the Ravens front office.

You can bet if Pitta's salary restructuring includes significant incentives, as it did last year, his good buddy Joe will do whatever he can to help him earn those incentives...perhaps at the expense of the growth of other receivers and maybe even negatively impacting the outcome of the game.

Between Pitta and Woodhead, Joe will easily throw for 4000 yards....on 800 attempts.

A poor man's Jabrill Peppers.  Nice move!  Solid guy on special teams and sub packages.

Gotta say, it is so nice to have a competent FO when you look at the dumpster fires elsewhere in the league.

2 minutes ago, ravensnj said:

Having a BIG line won the Super Bowl in 2000. Arguably, the best D ever. Having both Pierce and Williams in on goal line stands, is pretty intimidating.

On the other hand, I hope the big contract doesn't come back to bite us.

Our cap situation clears up dramatically over the next two years.  We'll be fine.

25 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

Wr would be a totally legit pick at #16, if Williams or rather Corey Davis is still on the board. I'm not buying the John Ross at #16 hype for a moment.
My guess is though, Cooper Kupp, no earlier than round #2. I think he'll still be on the board by then.

Ross seems too fragile, to me to take at #16.  Too bad Al Davis isn't still alive, or he'd trade all of his picks to move up and draft him.

Other later-round guys that look interesting include Zay Jones and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Some interesting FA still out there (beyond Mangold and the CBs discussed):

OLB - Ware, Peppers, Freeney (should've signed him several years ago instead of Babin), Lorenzo Alexander, and Jarvis Jones 

ILB - Hightower (can you imagine?), Zach Brown, and Kevin Minter

WR - Floyd, Wright, Patterson (mostly a return guy)

RB - AP, Charles (might be worth a 1 year flier on one of these guys), Blount, and Murray

2 hours ago, rmcjacket23 said:

The QB needy teams mostly found better options.

Even at this point, outside of maybe the Jets or Browns, I don't see a team where he's a better option than that team already has.

There are teams that have backups better than him. That should tell you something.

Ravens fans often overvalue our own players, and I've been saying for months that Mallett's market is almost non-existent as a potential starter.

Mallett is an upgrade over Hoyer in SF, and would do well in the Shanahan offense.  He'd also do well in Denver or Houston, but the staff screwed up the QB position so badly 2 years ago there's no way they'll take him back and admit their buffoonery.

You were a great player for the Ravens, and are a great person.  Who knows how high your ceiling would've been before the injuries?

Frees up over $5M.  Welcome to Baltimore, Mr. Mangold.

16 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

There seems to be no realistic scenario at this point where at least one of the top 3 corners is not available at #16 - and any of them have the potential to be day#1 starters.

My gut tells me though that if Ozzie picks at #16 it's gonna be a pass rusher.

But if anything, yesterday I learned I should not trust my gut about Ozzie's moves

I know, right?  I wouldn't be surprised if Ozzie went WR at #16.  

I say not surprised because that would be surprising, which I should come to expect from Ozzie, therefore it shouldn't be surprising.

Now we just need the NFL Rules committee to outlaw the forward pass, and we will be all set!

13 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

Per La Canfora on twitter:

Ravens free agent DL Lawrence Guy is visiting the Patriots today.

I don't want to sound like someone who can only be grumpy (my avatar notwithstanding :D) - but losing Guy would IMHO be a much bigger loss than most people would think... He was one of the true unsung heroes of our D last season.

Agreed, but at some point we have to expect guys like Urban, Kuafusi and Davis to step up.  I think Ozzie will find a veteran, Chris Canty-type guy later in FA to plug any remaining voids on the D Line.  Edge rusher and CB are the biggest concerns, IMO.

13 minutes ago, bioLarzen said:

Per La Canfora on twitter:

Ravens free agent DL Lawrence Guy is visiting the Patriots today.

I don't want to sound like someone who can only be grumpy (my avatar notwithstanding :D) - but losing Guy would IMHO be a much bigger loss than most people would think... He was one of the true unsung heroes of our D last season.

Agreed, but at some point we have to expect guys like Urban, Kuafusi and Davis to step up.  I think Ozzie will find a veteran, Chris Canty-type guy later in FA to plug any remaining voids on the D Line.  Edge rusher and CB are the biggest concerns, IMO.

5 minutes ago, Crusader said:

Its Great Brandon's here to stay. Ravens still need a "Leader" "General" on defense and they need to develop that core group. This core group will help keep those 4th quarter collapses from happening. Orr could have been that guy.

I'd settle for some competent, healthy CBs and a pass rush.  Still have work to do on those fronts, but at least now its less likely Antonio Brown will extend the football across the end zone as time expires to win a game, because TJeff will rip it off and throw it back 20 yards.

Post June 1 cuts of Pitta, Watson, Zuttah, Arrington and Webb would free up $19.6M.  I don't think all of those guys will be cut, and some may need to go before June 1st if there are a couple of key players out there now that Ozzie has his eye on (Akamura, Claiborne, Mangold, etc.).  Still work to do to transform our 8-8 roster.

Really happy we were able to retain BWilliams - a great player and a great guy. I do wonder about the opportunity cost of doing so, however (what pieces were we NOT able to add because of this signing). He's getting an average of $10.8M per year. That would have likely been enough to sign two starting-caliber players at other positions of need (C, RT, ILB, OLB, CB).

In Ozzie I trust though. Didn't see this coming or the TJeff signing; I didn't think it was possible. Now I'm sure Ozzie can settle the Arrington, Zuttah, Pitta, Webb, and Watson cap hits and free up additional resources to continue to improve the team.

Another small school guy who thought he could continue doing what gave him an edge in college (Nick Boyle).  They clearly have better PED programs at the big schools.  Take Cushing and Clay Matthews, for example.

Working out with Nick Boyle, I see.

Good decision. Wallace is a keeper. Joe was hurt last year, this year he's openly said he can work with his WR's in the off season. Something he couldn't do last year. You WILL see an improvement. Not sure up the O-line and this is a SB ready team.

I don't think Joe has ever worked with his receivers in the offseason. Biscuit lit a fire under his behind.

Good that we are keeping him, but should extend him to lower the cap hit. $8M is too much. So many other needs.

Great news.

Agreed. Browns or Niners would have been well-suited to pick up Mallett as a bridge starter. Better for us!

20 minutes ago, rossihunter2 said:

He's also good in pass protection - he's here to be a 3rd down back and nothing more - I don't know why there is so much consternation here about him

Not really.  Woodhead is one of the worst RBs in the league in pass pro.  As a 3rd down back, you are doing one of three things:  draw play, pass route, or pass protection.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/signature-stats-pass-blocking-efficiency-rbs-and-tes/