Ravens2343

That could go a long way in free agency.  I think the pro's outweigh the cons there

Looking at that chart I could see us parting with Pitta, Webb, Daryl Smith, Arrington, Lewis and Levine.  SSS will retire coupled with our releases and we could free up quite a bit of cap room.  The only problem is we would push some dead money into 2017 and that could cripple us again, but the rising cap should help mitigate some of that burden

ahh i gotcha lol

 

KO is gonna command big money, and teams rarely shell out money for 2 guards, i dont see us being in a position to do so either, zuttah has played average at best and often is the reason we fail on interior runs, john urschel still appears to be either our G or C for the future, drafting stanley or tunsil gives us a 1 or 2 year stopgap at LG, allows urschel to take over at center, and monroe has struggled to stay on the field more than is acceptable for your "franchise" LT, and when he does play he has been alright, but by no means is he the type of guy that joe can feel comfortable with, he is inconsistent and thats something you dont want from ur LT, id like to see us move on from monroe because i simply dont trust him as the long term solution, he strikes me more as the overpaid stopgap while we are still failing to transition from JO. tunsil or stanley both fit the mold of a legit franchise LT and would be a massive upgrade at a very important position in which we have had struggles.

I may be in the minority but I would be disappointed if we were to get a top 5 pick and we took a LT.  Our offensive line last year was excellent, probably top 5 in the league and we still failed to advance to the AFCG.  We failed to advance because we had a below average secondary which was decimated by injuries yes, but Stewart was not a very good FS.  If we were to get say pick #4 and Bosa, Goff and Nkemdiche were to go then I would rather see us take someone like Hargreaves, Ramsey, Floyd or Treadwell.  Those are positions that we absolutely need to improve on immediately if we have any thoughts on returning to the playoffs in 2016.  Just my thoughts but I think we can wait until later in the draft for O-line help, we did it with Wagner and Urschel.  Heck the Steelers got Kelvin Beachum in the 7th round.  Just my thoughts but I think we HAVE to go defense in round 1 unless we get Treadwell

How much money would we save cutting him?  I mean if its worth it i think its a no brainer when we have younger talent that have shown already they can perform. 

If we designate Pitta as a post-June 1st cut then we would save 5 million in cap space and incur 2.2 million in "dead money".  Brian McFarland posted an article detailing all the cap information and it is really helpful in determining the outcome of such moves.  Here is a chart he posted detailing what will happen if we release a player or they retire. 

Here is the link to the entire article, its a great read!  http://russellstreetreport.com/2015/10/22/baltimore-ravens-salary-cap/ravens-2016-salary-cap-preview/

#1- so taking him off the line against big DL's and LB's and instead throwing him into the open field with high speed cb's flying at him is better? I dont think so.  If hes going to get hurt, hes going to get hurt, you cant gameplan around an injury for an injury proned guy.  (just making that point) But i actually was thinking this as well and thought he could be a good posession type WR, i wonder what his speed is compared to say...Boldin?

 

#2 i was actually thinking something on the same premise.  We will have 4 TE's that are capable of producing next year, we dont know to what extent but they all have shown flashes.  Maybe have Max run the slot or something?  I think we will need to get creative with our TEs since we have far more talent in that position than WR, we have a good OC to get creative with this talent. 

I agree that changing positions for Pitta will not make a difference whatsoever in regards to him getting injured again.  It pains me to say it because he is one of my favorite players, but it is highly unlikely he is on the 53 man roster come next season.  Even if he returns healthy this season and plays well we will almost certainly look to trade him or even release him.  We have invested draft picks and valuable snaps into Gilmore, Williams and Boyle to where these guys are our future at tight end.  IF some how Pitta convinces this FO to keep him, then I think Juice would be looking at possibly losing his roster spot.

I think he actually meant the Browns receivers are better than ours...

Hard to disagree

I apologize then I read it wrong.  Nonetheless I don't think we have any use for Dwayne Bowe this year or next year.  Now is the time we stop signing/trading for players and play who we have in hopes we find out who deserves a spot next year.  We need all the draft picks and cap space we can get for next year.  I just wish we would play Ross, Givens and Waller more.  It wouldn't hurt to bring Jeremy Butler up as well.

finding the right DC will go a long way in helping our defense. we need to find a guy who can adapt, and use players to their strengths, rather than forcing low IQ DBs to try to rotate coverages and get lost, when to rush wide, when to blitz, etc. 

 

pees is just so predictable these days, he used to call some brilliant gameplans, but he lost something this offseason and he is just god awful, and now we are suffering with our personnel and his shortcomings are apparent as ever. with the right DC we can sign a middle of the pack CB, draft ramsey, and let the new DC dial up the pressure with more conventional coverages. heres to hoping we fire pees!

I agree that we should definitely have a new D-coordinator this offseason.  The right hire could really turn this defense around in a hurry, but we still need to add talent.  I would rather draft or sign a high caliber secondary player and pass rusher instead of leaving it to the new coordinator to put them in better spots.  We should draft someone with the idea that they will replace Suggs sooner rather then later

Flacco finally admitted today that he is not as comfortable in the offense as he would like due to personnel and loss of targets.  It is time this offseason the FO helps him out the right way and they not only sign a veteran wideout but draft another one high in the draft.  We cannot continue to give him guys like Marlon Brown and Kamar Aiken and expect him to win a bunch of games

I def. see what you mean. I love Hargreaves as a prospect for us, I want him really badly. I'm with you on Gipson but I might hold out hope on that one. It's not our motto to pursue big time free agents. We always build through the draft, add cut guys and sign under the radar guys as well. It's just what we do and it has been working for a long time now. 

 

Another bright side, we won't be relying on any one to step up. What I mean is that we don't have to rely on Marlon Brown or Chykie Brown to step up because we know what we have. We used to have mixed signals on who's good and who's not and the guys who weren't really good sure didn't play like they weren't. That won't be the case here. We can know plug up the holes we have without really relying on any undrafted players to step up.

With all of our projected picks this year I am excited to see who we bring in to fill these holes and add depth.  I think this offseason we should really consider signing Gipson or a good free agent corner/receiver.  Its not something we normally do, but with our projected cap room I think it is a must.  We should have 10-12 picks this year so I hope we don't have to rely on any undrafted guys to step up next year.  Guys like Brooks, Z-Smith, Jernigan, Guy, Will Davis, Maxx Williams, Aiken and Buck Allen are all getting good reps this year, but could very well be our depth next year.  This offseason will be a big one in our transition from an older super bowl team in 2012 to one of the youngest teams in 2016.

Our DLine will be sick in the next few years. Heck even next season too. I think we have a great foundation on the DLine. We need to work with a pass rush and secondary, that should be the focus of the off-season. 

I dream of us adding guys like Hargreaves in round 1 and Ogbah in round 2 then signing Tashaun Gipson in free agency.  That dream is getting me through this depressing season lol

Well, looks like he'll miss sometime. I think this is Brooks' time to play. We need to know if he's gonna be a good player. Judging by our teams history(Perriman) with "bone bruises" I think Brooks will have a lot of time to prove himself.

I agree and I hope Brooks gets that opportunity, but he is currently on the shelf with a thumb/hand injury and did not practice today either.

Because the Brown's WRs are better than ours??

No that's my point, we have a better receiving corps when healthy then they do.  Bowe cannot even get on the field over a guy like Hartline, we would have no use for him here.  A lot of our problems on offense center around our lack of explosive players, Bowe is exactly what we don't want/need.  If anything Ross and Givens should be given more time this season and next year we will have new draft pick(s) and probably a veteran wideout like V-Jax or Garcon to go along with Perriman, Campanaro, Waller and whoever else

doubt waller is gone though.

 

he looked really good on special teams which buy him time to also develop as a WR.

I agree Waller is one of our best special team players as a gunner.

Saw something on rotoworld that Bowe could be cut. Could be a nice low risk, high reward for this year and next. Still only 31.

Bowe looks finished in the NFL.  I don't know to what extent his injuries have been, but whatever it is they sapped him of what explosion and athleticism he had.  If the Browns cant get him on the field how would we?

Lol,

 

I just read two posts that talked about Williams and Boyle possibly competing for a spot. There is 0% chance that either are not on the team next year, with the exception of a large run-in with the law or career ending injury.

Williams and Boyle are here to stay regardless if Pitta comes back and tears it up.  The most likely scenario in this whole situation is we release, he retires or we trade Pitta.  IF, and that's a big IF, he comes back healthy and produces then I believe Juice would be on the hot seat.  Williams and Boyle both took snaps in an H-back role in the preseason, something both look capable of filling.

Agree...  if he can't go, do we keep him as a coach???

It would be nice to keep him on as a coach, but that would probably be entirely up to him.  I don't think Angulo deserves to be fired, but maybe we could bring Pitta on as an offensive coaching intern.  Promoting a former player to a position coach immediately after he retires is probably farfetched to say the least.  All I know is Gilmore, Williams and Boyle are not going anywhere no matter what happens to Pitta, the FO operated last offseason as if Pitta would never play again.  I believe that's how we should operate as along Pitta is under contract for the Ravens

My question would be how this impacts next year. Say Pitta does come back and proves that he can play? His salary next year is not guaranteed. Many believed we would release him. If he comes back and plays, do we keep him, or release and try to sign for a lower amount?

And if the Ravens do sign him, where does that leave our TE group at? They would have Pitta, Gilmore, Boyle and Williams. They would never carry 4 TE's on the active roster, so that would leave Boyle and Williams fighting for a spot. Boyle has been playing better than Williams this year. Could they possibly put Williams on the PS knowing he would get picked up within a day? Especially since all the hoop-lah made of how the stole him off of a rival. Could they possibly release him?

I think we are getting far ahead of ourselves with Pitta.  To answer your question though, I think there is a good chance that we would keep 4 TE's or we would trade/release Pitta.  Another thought would be that Williams, Boyle and Juice would be competing for 2 spots.  I don't believe Juice's spot is safe next year, especially if Pitta comes back and we have 4 capable tight ends.

No way we get rid of Maxx Williams, he is a second round pick and tight ends usually don't produce until year 2 or 3

Hard to choose him over Stanley and Bosa, but I was content with Monroe atleast until next year, and as far as Bosa and everyone else, I'm a huge fan of Hargreaves, and I want playmakers in the secondary asap. Bias maybe

I would take Hargreaves over everyone but Bosa and Nkemdiche to be honest, only because he is the top player at his position and that position happens to be one of our biggest needs. I strongly believe we go defense in the first round and pass on an OT or wide receiver unless we trade back

Harbaugh said not to read too much into it that he is practicing. Most people seem to think that they are just seeing where he is at and that doctors have yet to clear him for contact.

Probably won't see him until the end of the year if at all.

Starting today he has a 3 week window where he either has to be added to the 53 man roster or put on IR.  I would bet he has a higher chance of being shut down then activated, but we will atleast know soon.

There are reports that Dennis Pitta will begin practicing today, but he is not expected to play Monday night.  I guess he was cleared at some point and looks like he wants to play.  I don't know how I feel about it, but it shows that he is dedicated to this team and to football, probably to a fault.  I just wish he was returning to a winning team, it would be a real boost to this team if he was.

This article kind of goes with this thread. It highlights how the team has failed to draft and develop and/or keep skill position playmakers over the last 5 years WR, RB , TE in comparison to Steelers, Bengals ( whom both have plenty of young offensive talent added through the draft )

http://www.csnmidatlantic.com/blog/ravens-talk/recent-drafts-have-not-produced-enough-playmakers

Some guys could just be special and hard workers and become good or great players but the steelers WRs coach needs to get some credit he's played a major role in developing A.Brown, M.Bryant, M.Wheaton, then there's guys like (Saunders now in Denver), (M.Wallace Minnesota). The steelers have drafted WR low and developed them. We haven't hit a diamond in the rough yet. Our 4,5, 6th round WRs are lucky to make a roster filled with abysmal WRs yearly and are usually cut with little to no development or opportunity.

It would be nice for Ozzie to bring in a couple playmakers from this upcoming draft.  We need guys with speed and explosiveness, something the Steelers seem to really target in their wide receivers.  Their wideout coach deserves a ton of credit, but so does Roethlisberger, Haley and Arians.  Their two O-coordinators put those guys in positions to catch the ball in space and rely on their speed and vision to make plays.  Kubiak did it a little last year with TE screens, quick crossing routes and play action.  I have faith that Trestman will adjust his play calling accordingly, but it time to replace guys like Marlon Brown and Kamar Aiken with faster, explosive young guys who can create separation.

I went back and watch some of Oregon's game this year and last year and a guy I really like that I think we could get in round 3-4 is Bralon Addison.  He is explosive and gets in and out of his breaks quickly.  He is not the most polished receiver but we could use him the same way the Steelers use Antonio Brown.  Move him around the formation, hand it off to him on jet-sweeps, bubble screens and crossing routes.  We need explosive playmakers on offense and he looks fully recovered from his acl injury in 2014, I think he would be a good mid round addition. 

What do you guys think?

forsett webb and smith are going to leave even bigger holes to fill though.

I wouldn't cut Forsett, he has looked pretty good this year.  Webb will be replaced by a free agent and a high draft pick most likely.  Daryl Smith would be the hardest to replace, but maybe a cheap aging free agent like Derrick Johnson would work while we work in a young draft pick or Arthur Brown.  A lot of tough decisions are going to have to be made this offseason, but with a potentially high draft pick and cap room I am excited for the changes.

That piece of the article you posted is pretty damning of Pees.

Second worst in the league in 3rd down conversions tells pretty much the whole story.  We cannot get off the field and our players get worn down which leads to injuries and poor play.  To make matters worse we have depth issues on defense due to injuries and guys not developing like we had hoped.  Nothing is going to change unless we replace Pees and bring in young talent from the draft and look into adding a piece or two in free agency

I am right there with you man.   Having a guy that was just released cover one of the fastest WRs in the NFL with no over the top help to me is just plain stupid.  Ive seen that play a couple more times, as soon as i seen Torrey had Wright one on one i knew something bad was about to happen.  Wright jammed him when Torrey did that first stop and with Torrey's acceleration he had no chance.  Pees job is to put players into position to succed, that was setup for failure from the get go. 

Its one thing if our corners get beat while jamming or having safety help, but I doubt anyone can defend Pees when he puts our guys in positions like he did with Wright on Torrey.  Having to rush 5 or 6 to get sacks is not ideal, but our pass rush numbers are pretty consistent with last year.  Our defensive problems are not being able to get off the field and getting beat for big plays, something Pees has to adjust for.  We saw it with Cooper beating Jimmy in week 2, no jam and Cooper was able to run freely for 8-10 yards before he even had to put a move on Smith.  I cannot place all the blame on Pees because he is not out on the field, but like you said as coaches they have put the players In positions to succeed and Pees simply has not done that enough. 

I disagree. Pees has tried everything, and nothing works.

Remember, we have not pass rushers either so when you are blitzing and have man to man coverage..with these guys no less. .you don't try to jam receivers at the line unless you're asking for that 60 you bomb.

As a team we have 18 sacks, which is good for 5th or 6th in the league.  Now if we rush 4 guys then we typically are not getting the sacks, but nonetheless we have been able to pressure Qb's from time to time.  I would agree with you that long bombs could happen if you jam and don't have a pass rush, but the long bombs are happening now anyways without jamming.  Jamming and being physical is Jimmy's strong suit and would probably help him out a lot.  Not having Lewis or Hill help out Wright on that Torrey TD will always confuse me, I know the niners could have ran the ball but giving that TD up was the worst possible scenario

We are once again singing guys off the street to start at corner and it's still Pees' fault.

Pees has tried everything under the sun in terms of scheme and play calling.

This isn't his fault, we have a serious lack of talent on the field at this point in time.

I agree with you that injuries have hurt this defense, but Pees is still to blame for a lot of these problems.  Jimmy Smith is still playing 8-10 yards off a lot and receivers are running right past him.  Pees does not give Wright safety help when he clearly needs it.  The only reason our defense looked great Week 1 was because Manning is all but finished.  Pees had the same mediocre game plan then as he does now and I wont go as far to say its all his fault, but we have seen enough where a new voice is needed.  Id rather see our secondary get beat by playing aggressive and physical rather then playing soft and off coverage with no safety help, he fails to adjust when things go poorly.