bigcatfrank1

Mallet is fine for the same amount, otherwise some of the other FA, available QB's, would be just as good for that amount. This should be a financial focus, The Ravens are not in the same situation as the Cowboys. We actually have a #1 Quarterback who can play and win games! A back-up QB will be solely reliable on the Ravens ability to run the ball

The Ravens need to decide who they are going to cut, they may have an idea already. I have a question for you more senior or knowledgeable fanatics; Does the cap amount govern the team at ALL times during the player selection process? As an example; if Wagner becomes a free Agent, does his salary move OFF of the Ravens ledger until he is picked up either by the Ravens or another team? another example; what if the Ravens want to let Dummervil go, does his salary count prior to June 1 if released sooner, since that is the date that a "veteran" can be released? Or are the teams locked to ALL salaries regardless of date and FA status? Its a complicated game for sure. Anyone?

Agreed, we have 3 RG on the team now that all can play well. Nembot, Jenson and Urschel. both Jenson and Urschel are also back up Centers. So the Ravens could pick up Elflein the best center in the draft/ college and potentially have the best O-line in the NFL.Could even be better than Dallas if all of them can stay on the field. The cost is low too! leaves money for a RB and WR Frank you can't be serious here. 3 RG that play well? Urschel has played horribly since starting the last 3 or 4 games of the season 3 years ago (his rookie year). He admirably then, but its all be down hill from there.. Jenson is up and down. He put up a few stinkers this year (I think Jenson is by far the most talented of the trio) and Nembot??? I don't recall him making it off the practice squad last year. Its possible that he did for a game but I am sure he was never activated on game day. You cant determine a guys ability by looking up his height and weight. It just doesnt work that way. Alex L is also a question mark at the RT position. Nembot will be fighting for a roster spot. I am sorry i typed Nembot but I meant Ducasse. I could be mistaken but what I thought played out pretty well was moving Yanda at left guard. Because where Urschel struggled the most was at Left guard. Also, Jensen plays well, I didn't say great, but all three are young and can improve. You cannot expect to have a pro bowler/ superstar at every position, the Ravens will have no money to work with. My reasoning is to keep Williams and let Wagner go. Right now I am only using the guys on the team, it might be possible to have more available and move things around in many ways. picking up another Guard or T is not out of the question. However I believe the weakness is at Center this also was part of the scenario to keeping alternates.

Don't think its something we need. Not really interested in adding more years and more guaranteed money to a player so dependent on speed in his 30s. I think you keep him for this year, and look to replace his skills with Perriman (very similar skill sets) next year if he becomes too pricey to retain. This is an interesting situation because Wallace seems to have quite a lot of juice left in the tank, yet he is not that Big' WR that would move into a strong slot type receiver over the end of his career. But the Ravens don't have anyone signed for the veteran lead WR as of yet. I think keeping is a good move, either at the current agreement or trying an extension. Wouldn't you agree that Wallace could be a 3 year deal at 5.5- 6.5 spreading the cap and subsidizing bonus. Of course they have to convince him of that deal, If they pick up a Garcon (8 mil) or similar type player no guarantee on longevity there. So Wallace becomes even more valuable even moving to a 2nd WR level behind Perriman. All being said, Youth is where the Ravens need to go. Picking up a good WR in this years draft could help immensely, and I see them trying one.

Agreed, we have 3 RG on the team now that all can play well. Nembot, Jenson and Urschel. both Jenson and Urschel are also back up Centers. So the Ravens could pick up Elflein the best center in the draft/ college and potentially have the best O-line in the NFL.Could even be better than Dallas if all of them can stay on the field. The cost is low too! leaves money for a RB and WR And I still would rather have Williams than Wagner for the Ravens situation. Especially if it comes down to only one of them, the issue is they both are playing with fire because the Ravens can replace both of them! It may just happen and in that case, Bring on the Young bucks and pay for a couple big playmakers! They will be sorry when they go to non-playoff teams and the Ravens stay healthy.

Agreed, we have 3 RG on the team now that all can play well. Nembot, Jenson and Urschel. both Jenson and Urschel are also back up Centers. So the Ravens could pick up Elflein the best center in the draft/ college and potentially have the best O-line in the NFL.Could even be better than Dallas if all of them can stay on the field. The cost is low too! leaves money for a RB and WR

Its interesting that having Ben, Bell and Brown didn't make a difference in beating the team that really meant something. In fact, if the Steelers have an injury to one of those 3 guys they are sunk. Piggy Ben is up and down so don't be surprised if he sinks on his own this season. Its obvious that the Bell choice was a great one, that pick came from a down season by the Steelers, the Ravens won the super bowl that year. So basically the Steelers traded wining the super-bowl to the Ravens by changing staff and re-starting the offense with Bell. Will he be enough to put them over the top again next year? The Steelers better hope so, because they are weaker than the Ravens in many places. Personally I think the Ravens do need to pick up a top Running Back and receiver. I would get Latavius Murray for a couple of years while Dixon develops or they can pick up even a stronger young guy. Spend the 10mil Get Garcon for 8 mil too! do it and make a run at the trophy!

oh if you didn't notice - Ravens let the following players go- Dumervil, K Lewis, Arrington, All the CB except Smith and Young. ps- Willie Henry will make the team so one of the DL will go to PS.

ok since I picked the offense... defense is a little harder. lets start back to front- CB- Smith, Young, FA, Sidney Jones (R) and a post draft/ufa - 5 spots S- Weddle- Webb- Desmond King (R) - Huff - Levine - 5 spots LB- Suggs- Correa, Judon, Mc Clellan, Mosley, Za Smith, Onwasor, Okombo = 8 Spots D-line- Williams, Guy, Urban, Jernigan, Pierce, Kaufusi, Demarkus Walker (R)= 7 spots = 25 Tucker, Koch, Cox Ok so I just picked the 2017 Ravens lol. I know I am out there...but I can try.

Wallace should stay, both he and Ravens will not get a better deal. It would cost the Ravens at least 8Mill or more to replace his production considering he has about 3 mil in dead money if they let him go. So they save 5 mil, it will not pay for a comparable WR. Garcon at 8 mil is doable letting Aiken go and SS Sr.$. Pick up a Rookie in the draft and go with Perriman, Wallace, Garcon, Moore, Mathews, K Renolds and the Rookie. ( one will land on the practice squad) 6 spots TE- keep the 3 young bucks, Waller, Gilmore and Boyle- Williams needs to earn a spot -3spots Let Pitta go and Watson go, Let Allen go, pick up Latavius Murray YEP and draft a Rookie added to Dixon, Juice and West - 5 spots Now there you have some playmakers! lastly, O line- Stanley- Lewis- Elflien(R)- Yanda - Nembot/Urshel b/u- Decasse, Jensen, De'Ondre, Broxton, Puhgsley - 9 Flacco = 24 Offense mark this down for the earliest offense picked, lol.

weeb needs to go we HAVE to get better at safety doom won't accept a pay cut so he must go keep Wallace receivers getting 17 mill a year he's a no brainer for what he makes and all you fans who want alson Jeffery forget about it his salary will be way to high no receiver is worth 17 mill a year Webb cannot go, every CB on the Ravens didn't play as well as Webb played at Safety and it was his first year in the position. And all of them needs to go except Smith and Young. There is the position that needs cleaning house!

who is going to be the first (of their own) UFA signed by the Ravens? my guess, Lawrence Guy- my 4 other bring backs are- Juice, Ducasse, Levine and Williams ( big wish, but I hope) Thats it though no others UFA- I expect the return of all (almost) RFA and ERFA, not that all will.

Get Mangold in FA and Pat Elflein round 2. and dump Zuttah.

Big Cats Big Board- Round 1- top 3 at 16 Sidney Jones CB, Taco Charlton DT, Dalvin Cook RB Round 2- top 3 at 48 Pat Elflein C, Ryan Ramczyk T, M. Humphrey CB, Teez Tabor CB, Round 3 2-picks- Dan Feeney OG, Desmond King S, C. Tankersley CB- Ravens will get 2 of the last 6 shown if left on the board. Round 4- Isiah Ford WR, Chad Hansen WR, Demarcus Walker DE, Chris Wormley DE So my picks for the first 5 #1 Round 1- Sidney Jones CB or Taco Charlton DT #2 Round 2- Pat Elflein Center, #3 Round 3- Desmond King S, #4 Round 3- anyone 2,3 or 4 left on board above(favoring CB if no Jones or CB) #5 Round 4- Demarcus Walker DE or top 3-4 left on the board above

Stanley- Lewis- Mangold - Yanda and anyone is a great line!! I Just dont see Wagner staying he is not worth more than 6 mil. He cannot play any position except RT. Heck even Lewis could play RT, I bet Ducasse or Jensen could play RT. and Urshel has played RT he is improving. All of them can play G. The Ravens also have other guys to look at- Skura, Puhgsley, Nembot and Broxton

Mangold for Zuttah, a no brainer. Don't know if he will come for that money. Mangold for Wagner, probably (7-8 mil). So let Zuttah and Wagner go! Pick up Mangold and look for a RT or G. to help Ducasse, Urschel and Jensen. Got plenty of choices- Lewis back at Left G, Yanda on the right. or Lewis at RT Yanda on the left or right. Plus still pick up a top draft Center, let him get his feet wet at Guard.

C YA

terribly, terribly overated player. I would hardly consider him an average player. If we retain him for anything more than 1 mil a year, we're in a worse state than I thought. He'll flee though, luckily perfect timing for us. We can't even keep our good players, cuz our Ravens contracts are terrible and embarrassing. But luckily in about 5 ways, it's perfect timing fro him to leave. NOT JOKING AT ALL, the only reason our fans are stoked at ALL that like him, is cuz they get to chat JUICE. SERIOUSLY. Our franchise is falling apart. We are either playing Brady in the championship next season, or WE ARE STARTING OVEr. **** poor, poor opinion and basis. The Ravens have under utilized the Fullback position primarily because they couldn't get to the second and third level play options. "Juice" is a good player, better than many average TE and 2nd string running backs last year in the NFL. Making the pro-bowl and ratings by the NFL pundits helps but the key is to get him involved in 35-45% of the plays. In order to do that the Ravens need running backs that can produce at a 40-50% play level. emphasis on "produce" The issue is that the Ravens kept 3 TE that couldn't produce last year and a wasted RB spot on Allen. Take Juice out of the equation, the RB's and TE's last year would not have improved. So my opinion is to let Watson and Gilmore go. Keep Juice, Waller, Pitta and Boyle- Max Williams on the bubble. and develop plays to utilize Juice as a quasi FB/TE/ Slant option type player especially of they do not pick up a veteran slot receiver. The big move in my opinion has nothing to do with Juice staying. It is let Allen or West (or both go) and pick up a # 1 RB and use Dixon as a #2, then Juice becomes a major part of the running/option game. The Ravens need a +1000yd, big play RB, unfortunately neither Allen or West could reach that level. Dont waste time or money on such important positions such as #1/#2 RB and then complain about a nominal cost supporting role of a multi position FB. "but the key is to get him (Juice) involved in 35-45% of the plays." Are you kidding me? You're making Juice to seem like he's Le'Veon Bell or Tyreek Hill - LOL.... this is Juice we're talking about- Come on man! You need to stop smoking Elam's stuff Actually, if there are 60 offensive plays 35% would be 21 plays a game. Since we could figure 10 would be pass plays and the other 11 running. He easily could be involved in that, not saying he would get the ball 20 times a game his targets/options could be about 6-10 leaving 10-14 for blocking, lead rush FB, and option deception. About the Same as TE per game if the Ravens continue with 3-4 TE on the team. Not sure what surprises you so much, obviously 45% (around 26 offensive plays) is the most anyone would even consider. Heck he had that many in the Pro-bowl game.

Ok here is another option for WR and RB that you can comment on, I present the following: Let go of Juice (1.5), Watson (3.5 mil), Pitta (5.5), West (3 mil) , Aiken (4 mil) Camp (1.5) and Allen (1m) go. Also add SSsr. replacement salary to get to about 22mil. Pick up Latavious Murray (10mil), Pierre Garcon (8 Mil) and Cordarrelle Patterson (4 mil). Use Waller as the Slot receiver/TE option. Use Patterson as a 3rd RB/WR/option flex. keeping Dixon, Wallace, Perriman, Waller, Boyle, Gilmore, Moore and Renolds get Rookies RB and WR in the draft. Change the play book around to work to the strengths of RB game, WR and Flacco (option, flex and long ball).

You forget that Wallace lead the receivers?

Not going to happen, If that were true that teams will throw 5-6 mil around for option RB/FB the Ravens should let Juice, Allen and West out. Then the Ravens should pay the bucks to pick up L. Murray. Tandem Murray and Dixon now that is a backfield. I wouldn't care about Juice staying or leaving.

terribly, terribly overated player. I would hardly consider him an average player. If we retain him for anything more than 1 mil a year, we're in a worse state than I thought. He'll flee though, luckily perfect timing for us. We can't even keep our good players, cuz our Ravens contracts are terrible and embarrassing. But luckily in about 5 ways, it's perfect timing fro him to leave. NOT JOKING AT ALL, the only reason our fans are stoked at ALL that like him, is cuz they get to chat JUICE. SERIOUSLY. Our franchise is falling apart. We are either playing Brady in the championship next season, or WE ARE STARTING OVEr. **** poor, poor opinion and basis. The Ravens have under utilized the Fullback position primarily because they couldn't get to the second and third level play options. "Juice" is a good player, better than many average TE and 2nd string running backs last year in the NFL. Making the pro-bowl and ratings by the NFL pundits helps but the key is to get him involved in 35-45% of the plays. In order to do that the Ravens need running backs that can produce at a 40-50% play level. emphasis on "produce" The issue is that the Ravens kept 3 TE that couldn't produce last year and a wasted RB spot on Allen. Take Juice out of the equation, the RB's and TE's last year would not have improved. So my opinion is to let Watson and Gilmore go. Keep Juice, Waller, Pitta and Boyle- Max Williams on the bubble. and develop plays to utilize Juice as a quasi FB/TE/ Slant option type player especially of they do not pick up a veteran slot receiver. The big move in my opinion has nothing to do with Juice staying. It is let Allen or West (or both go) and pick up a # 1 RB and use Dixon as a #2, then Juice becomes a major part of the running/option game. The Ravens need a +1000yd, big play RB, unfortunately neither Allen or West could reach that level. Dont waste time or money on such important positions such as #1/#2 RB and then complain about a nominal cost supporting role of a multi position FB.

OK, here's some perspectives with back-of-the-envelope salary cap math (not using my kids' new common core curriculum, which would result in every answer being "42"). Paying LT money for an OG is silly...the Ravens were wise to let KO walk. As for Wagner, Juice and Williams, the Ravens could "afford" to pay to keep all three, but the opportunity cost would be an inability to sign players for depth at other positions (ILB, OG, C, WR, DB/FS). The Ravens currently have about $15M in cap space. Assuming they make a reasonable set of cuts (Watson/Pitta, Doom, Wright, Lewis, maybe Webb, Zuttah, etc.) that would push the number up to about $25M net of dead money. Ozzie wisely likes to plug holes in the roster in free agency ahead of the draft. The market price to keep Wager (est. $7M), Williams ($11M - your estimate) and Juice (est. $2.5M) would be over $20M. That would leave a scant $5M to plug holes at RT/G (depending on where you slot Alex Lewis), center ($1.5M), ILB ($1M), CB ($2M), Edge ($4M) and FS ($1.5M). Also, don't forget that we will need to sign a backup QB ($2M). That's about $12M in needs. If you believe in Alex Lewis at RT, and Pierce at NG, and that finding quality blocking FB (albeit without Juice's ability to catch the 3-yarder in the flat route) is fairly easy, the Ravens should invest the bulk of their notional $25M cap space in an edge rusher, defensive backfield, ILB and interior O-Line (in that order) in my opinion. Pay for playmaker positions, and fill-in/draft/develop the rest. RT, NG, and FB aren't playmaker positions. Besides, we'll get comp picks to replenish those guys that were drafted in the mid rounds anyway. Yes your agreement is appreciated, However I didnt say keep Wagner. So adding the average 6 Mil to the 5 mil as you said leaves 11 mil which is near the 12 million we agree is about the "relative" cap space using the players example above. The original post mentioned getting rid of al 3, I said keep Williams and Juice if they will sign at the amounts discussed, hopefully a little lower. Its all a money game, I would focus on Williams. Thats my opinion. Some say focus on Wagner and let Williams go. Its a roll of the dice really, it is going to be proven on the field. I guess my biggest logic is that with Yanda, Stanley, Jenson, and Lewis I feel the O-line is anchored for the next 2-3 years. adding the young talent which by the way the Ravens added 2 young O-line members in the offseason. The D-line without Williams would rest on 3 year Jernigan, 2 two year Urban, Davis, and 2 one year Pierce and Henry. and if signed Hurst and Guy which if both kept might cost as much as Williams. I think that is the hold out right now. The Ravens cannot afford to let Guy and Hurst go if Williams doesn't sign. Personally I think the one player that the Ravens should pass on is Zuttah. I think he has trouble in the Ravens scheme. If I were the FO, I would save money at Center and pick up a top Rookie at #2. That's my plan for now and I'm sticking to it. But of course I don't make the decisions, and some might not like that decision.

Let's think about this. We fans are apparently wringing our hands in grief at losing an OG (Osemele), a the prospect of losing a RT, a NG and a FB in free agency. None of those positions is worth overpaying for, regardless of the cap situation. Let them all go with fond wishes for success, let other teams overpay for their services, and invest the difference in their replacements and perhaps a playmaker or two. stating the words "overpay for their services" without stating what you think should be paid is quite a bit of a cop out. I will be specific about my opinion and comment in response, maybe you could too. KO was not affordable, the Ravens didn't have the cap money to keep him at the "market value" of his position. The Team's cap was tipped out at the 6.7 mil that they paid Wallace and that was after KO had left. RT Wagner, his market value is estimated at 6.7 million, The Ravens may have offered close to that. He may not get it, or he may get more from a team in dire need. I think that the Ravens could afford 6 million and that is a fair price for a solid 4 year RT. NT- Williams his estimated NFL value could be as high as 14 Million the price to franchise a NT in 2017 is 14.3 million. So that is about maximum value for the position. I believe that Ravens could afford 11 Million per year for Williams and that would be a fair value for him. FB- Juice as the article states the highest paid NFL FB is at 2.5 Million Juice is worth close to that in my opinion. SInce there is not a franchise tag for Full Backs, just RB ( over 10 mil) the guage is set by the competition. Juice is perfect for the Ravens and they could be more creative with him in my opinion. So if it was regardless of the cap, the Ravens could keep all 3 of them. But the Cap cannot be disregarded, I do not think the Ravens are willing to put 20 million down for all 3 players. I choose Williams and Juice, let Wagner see if he can get more. If not maybe they capture him for under 6 million.

wow, with Kaufusi, Canady, Correa, Henry and Lewis all not having a full year of NFL playing time its like getting additional top picks in addition to the 7 for this year. Also we shouldn't count out Keenan Renolds, Onwasor and others who held PS positions. These players should all be given the chance to shine.