Let's Welcome Gaither Back Today

[DieHardBMoreFan]

Today Gaither is scheduled to meet with Ravens brass. Let's hope a deal can be worked out, he is healthy, and will be our starting LT next year. Nothing against "Big Mike" but when we had Gaither at LT we were a better team.

I know we all had our thing against Gaither but for anybody to admit we are a better team without him, your just kidding yourself.

[ravensdfan]

[quote name='DieHardBMoreFan' timestamp='1296661166' post='630962']
Today Gaither is scheduled to meet with Ravens brass. Let's hope a deal can be worked out, he is healthy, and will be our starting LT next year. Nothing against "Big Mike" but when we had Gaither at LT we were a better team.

I know we all had our thing against Gaither but for anybody to admit we are a better team without him, your just kidding yourself.
[/quote]

I don't think we are a better team without him but he does us no good if he is not going to play. I have no issue with getting a deal done, I just think it needs to be very heavy on the incentives side.

[PuRock]

This is how it's going to go (shortened to get the point):

Ravens Organization: "Look Gaither, we'd like to offer you a new contract, but we worry about your chronic back issues. We would like to give you a smaller contract with bonuses for incentives."

Gaither and Superagent: "Your O-Line was horrible without my client. He is healthy and is ready to play, we want more guaranteed money."

Ravens Organization: "We are not willing to offer that due to the risk involved"

Gaither and Superagent: "My client and I believe that if you aren't willing to offer more guaranteed money that we can find a better offer from another team. Good day gentlemen."

[purple.n.black]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1296661763' post='630969']
This is how it's going to go (shortened to get the point):

Ravens Organization: "Look Gaither, we'd like to offer you a new contract, but we worry about your chronic back issues. We would like to give you a smaller contract with bonuses for incentives."

Gaither and Superagent: "Your O-Line was horrible without my client. He is healthy and is ready to play, we want more guaranteed money."

Ravens Organization: "We are not willing to offer that due to the risk involved"

Gaither and Superagent: "My client and I believe that if you aren't willing to offer more guaranteed money that we can find a better offer from another team. Good day gentlemen."
[/quote]
Then once they test the market, they come right back. That is unless we find someone more reliable in FA.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='ravensdfan' timestamp='1296661372' post='630966']
[b]I don't think we are a better team without him[/b] but he does us no good if he is not going to play. I have no issue with getting a deal done, I just think it needs to be very heavy on the incentives side.
[/quote]

The running game certainly was. Gaither's presence this season wouldn't have guaranteed Birk didn't break down but at least Oher and Yanda would have been playing at their stronger position.

[TDubbs]

I love Gaither as our LT. At 6 foot 9 he is the prototypical height for LT. He was getting injured because he was playing overweight and that was leaving him susceptible to getting hurt. Now that he has dropped the pounds, and they say he is walking around healthy, now he can start to hopefully get into nfl shape. I think he can step in for us next year and really sure up our line.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='TDubbs' timestamp='1296662897' post='630979']
I love Gaither as our LT. At 6 foot 9 he is the prototypical height for LT. [b]He was getting injured because he was playing overweight and that was leaving him susceptible to getting hurt[/b]. Now that he has dropped the pounds, and they say he is walking around healthy, now he can start to hopefully get into nfl shape. I think he can step in for us next year and really sure up our line.
[/quote]

The helmet he took the back in '09 against the Pats had little do with his weight.

[PuRock]

[quote name='purple.n.black' timestamp='1296662731' post='630977']
Then once they test the market, they come right back. That is unless we find someone more reliable in FA.
[/quote]

There are a lot of organizations out there that love to over pay guys. LT is a dire need for so many teams. If they test the FA market, they probably will find a better deal than what we'd be willing to give him

I agree we should make every attempt at bringing Gaither back to the line. But we also can't be slaves to their demands at the cost of signing other guys.

[TDubbs]

Obviously not. I think all the punishment from playing games added up though. He was never in premium shape to start with, very physically gifted.

[Jamal]

Bringing him back sound good and all, but lets hope hes healthy first and foremost.

[I AM LEGEND]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1296661763' post='630969']
This is how it's going to go (shortened to get the point):

Ravens Organization: "Look Gaither, we'd like to offer you a new contract, but we worry about your chronic back issues. We would like to give you a smaller contract with bonuses for incentives."

Gaither and Superagent: "Your O-Line was horrible without my client. He is healthy and is ready to play, we want more guaranteed money."

Ravens Organization: "We are not willing to offer that due to the risk involved"

Gaither and Superagent: "My client and I believe that if you aren't willing to offer more guaranteed money that we can find a better offer from another team. Good day gentlemen."
[/quote]

I hate to say it but that's the exact same way I had it playing out in my head

[BloodRaven]

All the signs point to unlikely but we can still dream right? time reveals all.

[edreedfromtheu]

[quote name='DieHardBMoreFan' timestamp='1296661166' post='630962']
Today Gaither is scheduled to meet with Ravens brass. Let's hope a deal can be worked out, he is healthy, and will be our starting LT next year. Nothing against "Big Mike" but when we had Gaither at LT we were a better team.

I know we all had our thing against Gaither but for anybody to admit we are a better team without him, your just kidding yourself.
[/quote]

While I agree with you for the most part...

How do you know if he's healthy or not? You have no idea. Just because some media outlet reports that he is healthy doesn't mean he is.

Gaither is a monster left tackle, and he didn't get a sweet rookie contract because he was "stolen" in the supplemental draft. Too many teams are desperate for o-line help, and plenty of teams will be willing to pay him more than the Ravens are.

And on top of it all, if Gaither is smart, he'll probably want to play for a QB who is much smarter at recognizing defenses, a QB who understands how the protection is going to play-out, and already knows how he's going to drop back and then move up in the pocket. It's almost guaranteed that both the Colts and Patriots want to upgrade their pass protection to help their star QBs. I wouldn't be surprised to see Gaither go to one of those teams. If you're going to play for a discounted contract, why not play for one of the two most guaranteed teams to be in the playoffs?

[hawkprey]

Gotta take risks if you want to win. Sign Gaither or we have little chance at a good O-line this year.

[tctony]

I have been saying for a long time that it should be a priority to bring back Gaither. This guy is a physical beast, and we've all seen how much better the line performs with him at LT as opposed to Oher. Big Mike himself even believes that the Ravens are a better team with Gaither at LT and him at RT (where Oher has already shown he can excel).

A couple seasons ago we were close to having an extremely dominant line for many years but unexpected things happened (Losing Brown to Free Agency and Gaither's injuries). We can make pace towards that again by resigning Gaither. 6'9, 340 guys that are beasts at the position don't grow on trees. By resigning Gaither, replacing Birk would be our only issue on the OL (besides adding capable depth).

[PWNEDbyDEANO]

According to Le'Ron McClain on this website's latest "Late for Work" article, Gaither has his weight back and is healthy again.

If he truly wants to spend much, if not all, of his career here like he said, I see no reason why we couldn't re-sign him.

It has to be heavily incentive laden though, as there is no point in forking out a massive salary if he could likely be injured.

[Alexir]

[quote name='PWNEDbyDEANO' timestamp='1296671258' post='631065']
According to Le'Ron McClain on this website's latest "Late for Work" article, Gaither has his weight back and is healthy again.

If he truly wants to spend much, if not all, of his career here like he said, I see no reason why we couldn't re-sign him.

It has to be heavily incentive laden though, as there is no point in forking out a massive salary if he could likely be injured.
[/quote]

Im totally fine with signing him to a heavy incentive contract. Like number of games started, games started at RT, started at LT, times he dominates Harrison, etc.

[Corvus]

We've got to do something here. I would absolutely love to see a deal hammered out at this meeting but I seriously doubt that happens. Everyone has blamed Cam (myself included) over the last month for our offensive woes, but as with everything, it all starts in the trenches. And our reshuffled line, while mostly doing an admirable job, was nowhere near as good as the Gaither-Grubbs-Birk-Yanda-Oher lineup of '09. Our team absolutely cannot afford to enter '11 with the '10 OL lineup if they have any aspirations for bigger things.

[flynismo]

[quote name='PWNEDbyDEANO' timestamp='1296671258' post='631065']<br />According to Le'Ron McClain on this website's latest &quot;Late for Work&quot; article, Gaither has his weight back and is healthy again.<br /><br />If he truly wants to spend much, if not all, of his career here like he said, I see no reason why we couldn't re-sign him.<br /><br />It has to be heavily incentive laden though, as there is no point in forking out a massive salary if he could likely be injured.<br />[/quote]


the incentive based contract is exactly why a deal may not get done.

[PuRock]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1296672561' post='631076']
the incentive based contract is exactly why a deal may not get done.
[/quote]

What ever happened to the gold old days, when players had their brothers (or dads) as their agents. Now you have to deal with all this fast tongue slicksters.

There's going to have to be a happy medium involved in this deal. Guaranteed money (low base salary) with incentive bonuses. Its how much each side is willing to concede is my concern.

[Bltravens]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1296672350' post='631072']
Im totally fine with signing him to a heavy incentive contract. Like number of games started, games started at RT, started at LT, [b]times he dominates Harrison[/b], etc.
[/quote]
lol I like it, Gaither is actually one of the few tackles I've seen that can block Harrison on his own. We actually drafted Oher in the first place because Woodley was killing us on the other side in 08.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='Bltravens' timestamp='1296672994' post='631081']
lol I like it, Gaither is actually one of the few tackles I've seen that can block Harrison on his own. We actually drafted Oher in the first place because Woodley was killing us on the other side in 08.
[/quote]

What impressed me even more was when Gaither and Oher literally erased Freeney and Mathis here in Baltimore in '09.

[Bltravens]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1296673466' post='631085']
What impressed me even more was when Gaither and Oher literally erased Freeney and Mathis here in Baltimore in '09.
[/quote]
I really think without a shadow of a doubt that if we have Gaither healthy and still had Brown we'd have the best Oline in the entire league for the next 5 years.

[PuRock]

[quote name='Bltravens' timestamp='1296673838' post='631086']
I really think without a shadow of a doubt that if we have Gaither healthy and still had Brown we'd have the best Oline in the entire league for the next 5 years.
[/quote]

Why depress us with false hopes. That would be a sick, young line.

[Perfekt]

Yea losing Brown hurt because he was good we just didnt want to give up that money. Hopefully we iron out something that works for both sides.

[flynismo]

,[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1296672828' post='631080']<br />What ever happened to the gold old days, when players had their brothers (or dads) as their agents.  Now you have to deal with all this fast tongue slicksters.  <br /><br />There's going to have to be a happy medium involved in this deal.  Guaranteed money (low base salary) with incentive bonuses.  Its how much each side is willing to concede is my concern.<br />[/quote]


Andre Johnson has a relative as an agent, and I remember the fiasco last season...I think the more money these guys make, the greedier they get.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[PWNEDbyDEANO]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1296672561' post='631076']
the incentive based contract is exactly why a deal may not get done.
[/quote]

I know, but there must surely come a point where he realises that it will only be a dumb organization (and therefore likely a bad team) that will pay him big wages.

[PuRock]

[quote name='PWNEDbyDEANO' timestamp='1296674780' post='631104']
I know, but there must surely come a point where he realises that it will only be a dumb organization (and therefore likely a bad team) that will pay him big wages.
[/quote]

He's still young so Money is a premium. Its very common for younger players to seek out the money first. Then when they get to the waning stages of their career, they'll take pay cuts to be with a contender.

There are plenty of 'dumb' organizations that will give him money.

[Ravenmore74]

Lets pray that Rex doesn't get to him before we do..

[PWNEDbyDEANO]

[quote name='PuRock' timestamp='1296675140' post='631108']
He's still young so Money is a premium. Its very common for younger players to seek out the money first. Then when they get to the waning stages of their career, they'll take pay cuts to be with a contender.

There are plenty of 'dumb' organizations that will give him money.
[/quote]

True, but I hope he can reign in his desire to earn millions upon millions of dollars and makes a decision where he views all factors equally. Such as the aforementioned desire of his to remain in Baltimore.

I suppose calling certain organizations dumb was a bit far, but I would consider it a dumb move if someone was to throw a huge contract at him, which is possible due to his undeniable talent.