Michael Huff agrees to a 3 year, $6 million deal

[beanfigger]

I think this meeting is, and should be, completely independent of the persuit of Reed. And I think we may actually be brining Huff in within the next five days now. Considering both guys have other potential suitors, we need to keep working on both fronts. I think both are a possibility, and a tasty one at that.

[TonyTone1192]

He's up there in age. Our team is looking to get younger, especially on Defense.

A lot of you guys aren't giving Thompson a chance, he was drafted for a reason. He sat behind arguable the greatest FS of all-time. I'm pretty sure that he's learned SOMETHING watching Reed play.

And IMHO I think Reed is just playing cat and mouse w/ other teams now. I feel that if he truly wanted to leave he would've been gone by now. I think he'll be back in Purple next year.

[A Fish Called Yanda]

[quote name='Bazooka Joe' timestamp='1363743442' post='1405693']
Or Huff and Reed?
[/quote]

I would prefer Dumervil and Reed

[beanfigger]

[quote name='TonyTone1192' timestamp='1363745090' post='1405736']
He's up there in age. Our team is looking to get younger, especially on Defense. He won't be a Raven next year
[/quote]

He's 30. One year older than Dumervill, and the other names we are reportedly persuing are Reed, Osi, Harrison, and Freeny. I don't think his age is a factor. We can't just hope that every single draft pick becomes a starter right away.

[TonyTone1192]

[quote name='beanfigger' timestamp='1363745485' post='1405758']
He's 30. One year older than Dumervill, and the other names we are reportedly persuing are Reed, Osi, Harrison, and Freeny. I don't think his age is a factor. We can't just hope that every single draft pick becomes a starter right away.
[/quote]

That's understandable, we added Canty(31) to give us depth at the D-line. B/c of the poor play this season. I can't see us picking up a 30 year old Huff when we're trying to get younger as a defensive unit and we drafted a FS (Christian Thompson) last season for this very reason(or atleast they assumed Reed would retire)

[Ravenseconbeast]

[quote name='terpsnation' timestamp='1363745106' post='1405737']


I would prefer Dumervil and Reed
[/quote]

Haha i wish.

[H8R]

I'm rolling with Huff if he is half the price of Reed... He has more left in the tank, and is a sound tackler. He would be a fine Raven!

[CapoRocky]

I'm pretty sure he picked Flacco last year when we blew out the Raiders at home.

[dhstandard]

[quote name='Brandon22' timestamp='1363698943' post='1404712']
Lets wait and see if our youth can step up first like omar Brown
[/quote]

You don't just wait and see. That's how you lose in the NFL. You to make moves especially when a quality player is available for cheap. Can't just expect the rookies and second year Undrafted Free Agents to come in and play like all stars.

[Tiz]

[quote name='H8R' timestamp='1363746458' post='1405817']
I'm rolling with Huff if he is half the price of Reed... He has more left in the tank, and is a sound tackler. He would be a fine Raven!
[/quote]

His versatility helps
He plays cb and s so regardless of reed is like to see huff signed

[beanfigger]

[quote name='Brandon22' timestamp='1363698943' post='1404712']
Lets wait and see if our youth can step up first like omar Brown
[/quote]

We have to sign Huff now. Then, we can see if any of our young guys step up over the course of this offseason and season. Maybe they can take his spot, but at least we have a proven starter to ride until that time, if it comes.

[BMORE_96]

if we sign michael huff, safety is no longer an immediate need with ihedigbo and thompson. I can see it as a smarter move than paying ed 4 mill a year for declining play

[arnie_uk]

Has he now become a must sign?

[frangecko112]

[quote name='arnie_uk' timestamp='1363820519' post='1406906']
Has he now become a must sign?
[/quote]probably. We really need a safety now that reed is gone

[GrimCoconut]

[quote name='arnie_uk' timestamp='1363820519' post='1406906']
Has he now become a must sign?
[/quote]
Not sure about "Must sign!" but he's up there. More important than perhaps Dumervil.

[T3hRaven]

[quote name='arnie_uk' timestamp='1363820519' post='1406906']
Has he now become a must sign?
[/quote]

If we don't get Dumervil, yeah.

[beanfigger]

I think Huff could be the priority at the moment.

[Bravens292]

Welcome to Baltimore, Michael ! JK, i'm not gonna presume anything yet but I think oz will make a big run at him. can't see oz swinging and missing on this one especially since he would be half ed's price and twice the gas left.

[BMORElegacy]

What if we cut Leach (sucks I know), and then signed Dumervil and Huff. Leach is demanding so much Cap for a position that will see less and less playing time with the switch to a passing offense and with those two players you upgrade at both safety and OLB.

[Juviebest]

[quote name='BMORElegacy' timestamp='1363822133' post='1407074']
What if we cut Leach (sucks I know), and then signed Dumervil and Huff. Leach is demanding so much Cap for a position that will see less and less playing time with the switch to a passing offense and with those two players you upgrade at both safety and OLB.
[/quote]

I agree with cutting Leach. I love him but that cap hit is just far too high. Or maybe have him take a pay cut at least. We need that money to pay players who play more then 30-35% of the snaps.

[beanfigger]

[quote name='BMORElegacy' timestamp='1363822133' post='1407074']
What if we cut Leach (sucks I know), and then signed Dumervil and Huff. Leach is demanding so much Cap for a position that will see less and less playing time with the switch to a passing offense and with those two players you upgrade at both safety and OLB.
[/quote]

Very possible, but I'd take any two of the three (Huff, Elvis, Leach).

[Bravens292]

[quote name='BMORElegacy' timestamp='1363822133' post='1407074']
What if we cut Leach (sucks I know), and then signed Dumervil and Huff. Leach is demanding so much Cap for a position that will see less and less playing time with the switch to a passing offense and with those two players you upgrade at both safety and OLB.
[/quote]
A lot of people (me included) think the same way. I've been anticipating a leach cut for weeks now and i'm confused why it hasn't happened. maybe with our increased demand for dumervil and huff they will but I thought they would've done it already.

[rmw10]

[quote name='Bravens292' timestamp='1363822655' post='1407123']
A lot of people (me included) think the same way. I've been anticipating a leach cut for weeks now and i'm confused why it hasn't happened. maybe with our increased demand for dumervil and huff they will but I thought they would've done it already.
[/quote]

I can only assume they don't want to make a decision that may not even be needed. What if we cut Leach in anticipation of working out a deal that never happens? Then we just cut a guy for no reason. At least, that's the only thing I can think of.

[beanfigger]

[quote name='rmw10' timestamp='1363822938' post='1407153']
I can only assume they don't want to make a decision that may not even be needed. What if we cut Leach in anticipation of working out a deal that never happens? Then we just cut a guy for no reason. At least, that's the only thing I can think of.
[/quote]

We can sign one of those guys without cutting Leach. Then, if we agree on a deal with the other guy in principle, we do the moves it possible. If that means cutting/restructuring Leach or whatever, that's when we pull the trigger on that.

[Bravens292]

[quote name='rmw10' timestamp='1363822938' post='1407153']
I can only assume they don't want to make a decision that may not even be needed. What if we cut Leach in anticipation of working out a deal that never happens? Then we just cut a guy for no reason. At least, that's the only thing I can think of.
[/quote]
Nobody knows for sure if boldin was traded to keep Ellerbe but I believed in that. in that scenario, we lost both players. I guess you're right and that won't happen again. We don't want to lose Leach and miss on a FA especially with our FA history recently....

[mgridda]

I think it might be a financial/guaranteed money problem if we cut Leach. Meaning, he's already guaranteed most of his 2013 salary so cutting him would just serve as dead money with no one playing for that money. I am only speculating though.

Also, to keep to the topic: PFF has graded Huff higher than Reed in coverage and run support the last two years, hopefully his agent doesn't use that angle and we can get him for cheaper than the Texans paid our legend in the backfield. I hope Ed has a healthy nice retirement 3-4 year coast in the retirement home known as the Texans secondary, gets some picks to get #1 in the all-time interceptions list and retires with full use of his physical faculties instead of going all out for us.

Michael Huff would be a great addition. He might not "play-like-a-raven" but he's very smart on the backend, very polished and a good athlete.

[rmw10]

[quote name='Bravens292' timestamp='1363823266' post='1407190']
Nobody knows for sure if boldin was traded to keep Ellerbe but I believed in that. in that scenario, we lost both players. I guess you're right and that won't happen again. We don't want to lose Leach and miss on a FA especially with our FA history recently....
[/quote]

Yeah I mean it's just a pure guess on my part because I have no clue. I honestly thought he'd be one of the first ones gone. Maybe Rice made it known that he'd be unhappy without Leach? I just don't know.

[Ravenseconbeast]

His not really a priority.

# of high talent safety available this year on draft @ our radar

Eric Reid, Matt Elam, DJ Swaringer..

[beanfigger]

[quote name='Bravens292' timestamp='1363823266' post='1407190']
Nobody knows for sure if boldin was traded to keep Ellerbe but I believed in that. in that scenario, we lost both players. I guess you're right and that won't happen again. We don't want to lose Leach and miss on a FA especially with our FA history recently....
[/quote]

Boldin was traded to make room for us to make some moves. I don't think it was exclusively a move to re-sign Ellerbe, but we did have that goal in mind. On the other hand, had we not traded Boldin, then we wouldn't have even been in the running for Reed, and we would have a slim to no chance with anyone else at the moment without releasing somebody else. We would have very little room left to maneuver.

[MDCop]

I believe Huff is a must sign now. I also think we pick up someone like Swearinger in the late 2nd early 3rd as well. That way when Huff is done in 2 or 3 yrs we have someone who can step right in.....and he would also serve as a good back up in case of injury and on Special Teams. With what some were saying in the above posts. IF there isnt a dead money issue, I would agree on cutting or even better restucturing Leach if that means it would get us Dumervil. Having those too should jump our defensive IQ right back up. Then we can add young talent in the draft to fill other needs i.e. MLB and for the future.