Rationale behind cuts - 2014 Salaries

[tctony]

[quote name='sameoldbull' timestamp='1363223392' post='1394998']
Dude. Even your own president did an interview to that site where people could ask freely about different topics (more or less). The layout might be simple, but the content is pretty good. Thou the subreddit sometimes feels like a bit of a circlejerk.
[/quote]

Every community on the internet, and thus every subreddit (particularly large ones), will eventually develop into a circlejerk. Heck, even these forums exhibit the same sometimes.

I'm not fond of the overall Reddit community, but the individual communities can be great. The NFL subreddit (nfl.reddit.com), for instance, is the only place on the internet I see levelheaded discussion from fans of all teams that doesn't devolve into trolling you see on other football sites.

Anyway, the post I originally linked is a great example of the good content that can come from Reddit. That was a breakdown most "professional writers" haven't picked up on.

[BloodRaven]

[quote name='tctony' timestamp='1363191401' post='1393158']
Hey guys and gals,

Here's a good post I came across on the Baltimore Ravens subreddit.

[url="http://www.reddit.com/r/ravens/comments/1a7x8u/my_thoughts_on_what_were_doing_this_year/"]http://www.reddit.co...oing_this_year/[/url]

Essentially, we need to take these hits now so we can afford to pay guys in 2014.
[/quote]

I don't think Suggs will be around much longer, also it will be interesting to see how much Flacco contract balloons out to later on.

[Bltravens]

[quote name='BloodRaven' timestamp='1363230585' post='1395268']
I don't think Suggs will be around much longer, also it will be interesting to see how much Flacco contract balloons out to later on.
[/quote]
This upcoming year is his last I think which is sad. All the Ravens on defense I watched as a teenager will be gone soon. Damn I'm glad the trio of Suggs, Lewis and Reed picked up a championship before the trio was broken up. So many prime years of devastating defense gone to waste. Ironic when Ray was on his last legs with 1 arm, Suggs on 1 arm and 1 leg, and Ed no longer being able to tackle due to a nerve that they won it then.

Ain't your childhood Ravens anymore.

[mgridda]

Terrell Suggs has been waiting in Ray Lewis' shadow for a very, very, very long time. Usually a year after guys are injured, they bounce back. I'm expecting him to have a monster 2013. I expect the same from Haloti Ngata, who will likely just rest this entire off-season while Terrence Cody gets in shape.

We cut Pollard not just because of his dead money, not just to save us 3.5 million in 2014, or to save us 1 million in 2013: but because we can do better. The safeties in FA [Kerry Rhodes] and in the draft are better in coverage and against the run. Sure, we'll all remember the Shipley hit. But there are guys who can be better in run support [I'm hoping for a Matt Elam in the 2nd round].

This team, people look at this team and almost forget that it's the offense that made the difference. Cam Cameron wanted to regulate the tempo and the play selection. He didn't for a bit, Joe excelled. Then he did again: Joe stuttered. We put the keys in Joe's hands and fired Cam. Since then our offense has been on fire. It's not going to lose that fire. We have receivers capable of stepping up. Joe will make them stars.

I just don't know what we're going to do at LT. Bryant McKinnie is probably the most important man in our future [which is scary: and why I want Ozzie to trade up]

[mgridda]

[quote name='Bltravens' timestamp='1363231243' post='1395274']
This upcoming year is his last I think which is sad. All the Ravens on defense I watched as a teenager will be gone soon. Damn I'm glad the trio of Suggs, Lewis and Reed picked up a championship before the trio was broken up. So many prime years of devastating defense gone to waste. Ironic when Ray was on his last legs with 1 arm, Suggs on 1 arm and 1 leg, and Ed no longer being able to tackle due to a nerve that they won it then.

Ain't your childhood Ravens anymore.
[/quote]

What?

No. Terrell Suggs got his biggest contract. His next one won't be as big. Plain and simple, unless he balls on chins and gets the DPoTY again. I doubt it. Ngata probably will get the DPoTY. We'll either reconstruct/extend Joe's contract: or the salary cap itself will jump in 2015 as it's expected to.

The 2006 Ravens defense was perhaps the best Ravens defense of all time. Chris McAlister, let go [retired after 1 year]. Kelly Gregg, let go [retired after 1 year]. Dawan Landry, let go. Adalius Thomas, let go. Bart Scott, let go. Samari Rolle, let go. Jarrett Johnson, let go. Trevor Pryce, Dwan Edwards, Aubrayo Franklin....let go. We're a football factory. We let guys go and draft new ones.

Guess what? We did the same with the 2000 defense. Except for some of them we did it too late, but still. McCrary, retired. Burnett, let go. Adams, let go. Siragusa, retired. Kim Herring, let go. Duane Starks, let go. [you think people didn't flip out about letting Duane Starks go in 2000 after being drafted 10th overall two years prior? That we didn't match the Cards contract? They did.] Rod Woodson, let go. We've learned from keeping veterans around longer than they're useful or getting in bidding wars. Hence why our turnover from the 2006 defense's success was much more successful. We let go of a lot of guys right before they dropped off. We're all about depth here, and it'll show.

Next. Man. Up.

There will be a new generation of defense. And it will be led by guys who have a clear shot at the hall of fame: Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata. And the young will be guys just like before, some with no pedigree that you've never heard of, and some that you have: Lardarius Webb, Pernell McPhee, Courtney Upshaw, Jameel McClain, Josh Bynes, Arthur Jones, Terrence Cody, Jimmy Smith. All these guys will be better next year.

[profanity deleted], I think we should even resign Sergio Kindle to the vet minimum.

[tctony]

[quote name='BloodRaven' timestamp='1363230585' post='1395268']
I don't think Suggs will be around much longer, also it will be interesting to see how much Flacco contract balloons out to later on.
[/quote]

[url="http://www.overthecap.com/cap.php?Name=Joe%20Flacco&Position=QB&Team=Ravens"]http://www.overtheca...=QB&Team=Ravens[/url]

Modest salary for first 3 years, then it balloons to a point where they will clearly restructure.

[mgridda]

Rod Woodson picked off 8 passes the year after we let him go to a franchise that was semi-our rival in those days, Oakland. He went to the Superbowl [and lost in style].

Anquan Boldin might do the same. He might have a terrific year. But the year after that, he's done and the guy we have in his stead [Ed Reed] is better.

[GTRavens]

[quote name='tctony' timestamp='1363229135' post='1395236']
Every community on the internet, and thus every subreddit (particularly large ones), will eventually develop into a circlejerk. Heck, even these forums exhibit the same sometimes.

I'm not fond of the overall Reddit community, but the individual communities can be great. [b]The NFL subreddit (nfl.reddit.com), for instance, is the only place on the internet I see levelheaded discussion from fans of all teams that doesn't devolve into trolling you see on other football sites.[/b]

Anyway, the post I originally linked is a great example of the good content that can come from Reddit. That was a breakdown most "professional writers" haven't picked up on.
[/quote]

I've never been a Reddit guy, but I "discovered" the NFL subreddit about a month ago and was shocked by how intelligent the community was. I thought it was basically going to be another 4chan, but it's a legitimate and active place without a doubt.

[Bltravens]

[quote name='mgridda' timestamp='1363234668' post='1395331']
What?

No. Terrell Suggs got his biggest contract. His next one won't be as big. Plain and simple, unless he balls on chins and gets the DPoTY again. I doubt it. Ngata probably will get the DPoTY. We'll either reconstruct/extend Joe's contract: or the salary cap itself will jump in 2015 as it's expected to.

The 2006 Ravens defense was perhaps the best Ravens defense of all time. Chris McAlister, let go [retired after 1 year]. Kelly Gregg, let go [retired after 1 year]. Dawan Landry, let go. Adalius Thomas, let go. Bart Scott, let go. Samari Rolle, let go. Jarrett Johnson, let go. Trevor Pryce, Dwan Edwards, Aubrayo Franklin....let go. We're a football factory. We let guys go and draft new ones.

Guess what? We did the same with the 2000 defense. Except for some of them we did it too late, but still. McCrary, retired. Burnett, let go. Adams, let go. Siragusa, retired. Kim Herring, let go. Duane Starks, let go. [you think people didn't flip out about letting Duane Starks go in 2000 after being drafted 10th overall two years prior? That we didn't match the Cards contract? They did.] Rod Woodson, let go. We've learned from keeping veterans around longer than they're useful or getting in bidding wars. Hence why our turnover from the 2006 defense's success was much more successful. We let go of a lot of guys right before they dropped off. We're all about depth here, and it'll show.

Next. Man. Up.

There will be a new generation of defense. And it will be led by guys who have a clear shot at the hall of fame: Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata. And the young will be guys just like before, some with no pedigree that you've never heard of, and some that you have: Lardarius Webb, Pernell McPhee, Courtney Upshaw, Jameel McClain, Josh Bynes, Arthur Jones, Terrence Cody, Jimmy Smith. All these guys will be better next year.

[profanity deleted], I think we should even resign Sergio Kindle to the vet minimum.
[/quote]
I was saying the guys I grew up watching when I first started following the Ravens are almost all gone, which leave me feeling nostalgic and melancholic at the same time. The defense will get new players and play well at times, other seasons have down years. I was just remarking how the Reeds, Suggs, Lewis' are gone or will be gone shortly, the guys that drew me to Baltimore in the first place.

It was nice to see that trio bring one championship to Baltimore. But if you had told me in 2003 or 2004 that they would win it when Lewis had 1 arm and didn't have much left in the tank, that Reed was relegated to being a deep cover guy because his shoulder/neck didn't allow him to sniff around the box and move around and that Suggs was playing on 1 arm and 1 leg but not when all 3 were in their "prime(ish)" I wouldn't have believed it.

Im a Raven fan through and through, always will be, its just an odd feeling to watch the twilight of that fantastic trio of defensive players and know in a year or 2 the old guard will be gone.

[mgridda]

[quote name='Bltravens' timestamp='1363236930' post='1395391']
I was saying the guys I grew up watching when I first started following the Ravens are almost all gone, which leave me feeling nostalgic and melancholic at the same time. The defense will get new players and play well at times, other seasons have down years. I was just remarking how the Reeds, Suggs, Lewis' are gone or will be gone shortly, the guys that drew me to Baltimore in the first place.

It was nice to see that trio bring one championship to Baltimore. But if you had told me in 2003 or 2004 that they would win it when Lewis had 1 arm and didn't have much left in the tank, that Reed was relegated to being a deep cover guy because his shoulder/neck didn't allow him to sniff around the box and move around and that Suggs was playing on 1 arm and 1 leg but not when all 3 were in their "prime(ish)" I wouldn't have believed it.

Im a Raven fan through and through, always will be, its just an odd feeling to watch the twilight of that fantastic trio of defensive players and know in a year or 2 the old guard will be gone.
[/quote]

I know what you mean, but I'm trying to say Suggs and Ngata will retire as Ravens. What I'm saying is it's no "old guard." We draft too well for that. The Ravens have always had a hall of famer on their defense and we'll probably continue that streak well into the 2020s. I don't know if Ed Reed will be back, that much is true. I suspect he will. But, trust me that Terrell Suggs isn't going anywhere. He wants to be the Ravens defensive leader and has wanted that role for a very, very, very long time. Suggs does everything well. People forget, or just look at the sack numbers. He's a beast in run support and coverage. But mostly, he's been waiting for a while for Ray to retire. He's stayed long after Bart Scott and Adalius Thomas. Ed Reed will always be sort of in that consiglieri role in the background. He might not be back, but what I'm trying to say is the Ravens always make transition. 1st rounders on defense last year consisted of: Ray, Ed, Terrell, Haloti and Jimmy.

I suspect Ed will be back. Then it'll be Ed, Terrell, Haloti and Jimmy. Maybe we'll draft another 1st round guy on defense this year or next year. Maybe in two or three more years we'll have just Terrell, Haloti, Jimmy and some new 1st round talent. Then a few years after that Suggs will retire. Then a few years after that Haloti. By then it'll be 2020.

[BloodRaven]

[color=#222222][font=Helvetica Neue', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif][size=4][background=rgb(255, 255, 255)][size=4][background=transparent][size=4][background=transparent]What we're doing now, making hard decisions and stockpiling picks is what we should have done in 2001 and what the Steelers should have done a few years ago. So instead of overpaying for older vets to try and make one more Super Bowl we've moved on and cleaned house to make this Harbaugh and Flacco's team.[/background][/size][/background][/size][/background][/size][/font][/color]

[color=#222222][font=Helvetica Neue', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif][size=4][background=rgb(255, 255, 255)][size=4][background=transparent][size=4][background=transparent]By the time Joe is 30 and we've surrounded him with some young talent we're going to ready to make more runs at a Super Bowl, and with all our picks and the way we draft I wouldn't be surprised if we're back this year, and next year we'll have some good compensatory picks as well.[/background][/size][/background][/size][/background][/size][/font][/color]

[color=#222222][font=Helvetica Neue', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif][size=4][background=rgb(255, 255, 255)][size=4][background=transparent][size=4][background=transparent]We're taking their medicine all at once so we don't pay for it later on.[/background][/size][/background][/size][/background][/size][/font][/color]